yperinflation, declining per capita output,
and mounting external debt. Peru was shut off from IMF and World Bank
support in the mid-1980s because of its huge debt arrears. An
austerity program implemented shortly after the FUJIMORI government
took office in July 1990 contributed to a third consecutive yearly
contraction of economic activity, but the slide came to a halt late
that year, and in 1991 output rose 2.4%. After a burst of inflation as
the austerity program eliminated government price subsidies, monthly
price increases eased to the single-digit level and by December 1991
dropped to the lowest increase since mid-1987. Lima obtained a
financial rescue package from multilateral lenders in September 1991,
although it faced $14 billion in arrears on its external debt. By
working with the IMF and World Bank on new financial conditions and
arrangements, the government succeeded in ending its arrears by March
1993. In 1992, GDP fell by 2.8%, in part because a warmer-than-usual
El Nino current resulted in a 30% drop in the fish catch, but the
economy rebounded as strong foreign investment helped push growth to
7% in 1993, about 13% in 1994, and 6.8% in 1995. Growth slowed to
about 2.8% in 1996 as the government adopted tight fiscal and monetary
policy to reduce the current account deficit and meet its IMF targets.
Capital inflows surged to record levels in early 1997 despite the MRTA
hostage crisis.

GDP: purchasing power parity - $92 billion (1996 est.)

GDP - real growth rate: 2.8% (1996 est.)

GDP - per capita: purchasing power parity - $3,800 (1996 est.)

GDP - composition by sector:
agriculture: 13%
industry: 42%
services: 45% (1994)

Inflation rate - consumer price index: 11.5% (1996)

Labor force:
total: 7.6 million (1996 est.)
by occupation: agriculture, mining and quarrying, manufacturing,
construction, transport, services

Unemployment rate: 8.2%; extensive underemployment (1996)

Budget:
revenues: $8.5 billion
expenditures: $9.3 billion including capital expenditures of $NA (1996
est.)

Industries: mining of metals, petroleum, fishing, textiles, clothing,
food processing, cement, auto assembly, steel, shipbuilding, metal
fabrication

Industrial production growth rate: 4.5% (1995)

Electricity - capacity: 4,520,200 kW (1995)

Electricity - production: 16.04 billion kWh (1995)

Electricity - consumption per capita: 519 kWh (1995 est.)

Agriculture - products: coffee, cotton, sugarcane, r