update-peru's economy speeds up near 8 pct growth for '07
LIMA, Nov 15 (Reuters) - Peru's economy accelerated in September toward 8 percent growth for 2007, and strong domestic demand outpaced the traditional engine of mining as the Andean economy posted its 75th month of expansion.
Gross domestic product rose 8.8 percent in September from the same month a year earlier, topping market estimates as retail sales surged 12.27 percent and construction grew 10.8 percent, official data showed on Thursday.
The mining and petroleum sector was slower, at 8.4 percent.
"Importantly, the performance of key sectors besides primary goods are surpassing expectations," said Roberto Flores of the Centura SAB brokerage in Lima.
Traditionally, exports of minerals led Peruvian growth spurts, but the economy's export base is diversifying with textiles and agricultural products.
Strong domestic demand, fueled by an expanding credit supply, is now leading an economic boom that has pushed Peru past many other emerging market nations.
The government has said growth should hit 8 percent this year and growth sped up in the latest period.
However, government concern is now being expressed in the escalation of the price of pussy with reports emerging of significant inflation, well beyond the 8% growth rate with many consumers expressing dissatisfaction over lack of perceived added-value despite the sustainability of supply.
In the third quarter, the country's statistics agency said the economy expanded 8.4 percent, faster than an initially reported 7.6 percent pace for the second quarter.
Growth in the 12 months through September was 8.16 percent and the economy appears to have bounced back from a lull in August, when a powerful earthquake trimmed expansion for the month to 6.9 percent.
Economists expect Peru's growth outlook to improve further if the U.S. Senate approves a bilateral free trade pact for the two countries before the end of this year.
However, faster growth could pressure inflation, which is running around 3 percent, at the ceiling of the central bank's target range. The central bank has hiked the benchmark interest rate twice this year, bringing it up to 5 percent to control inflation expectations.
"Strong GDP growth in September supports expectations for the central bank raising interest rates again next year," said Felipe Hernandez, a Deutsche Bank analyst, in a note to investors.
UNEMPLOYMENT FALLS
Peru's statistics agency said faster growth reduced joblessness.
The unemployment rate in metropolitan Lima, the country's economic hub, fell to 7.9 percent in the August-to-October period from 8.5 percent in the same period a year earlier.
The jobless rate was 8.2 percent in the July-to-September period.
(Reporting by Terry Wade and Teresa Cespedes; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama,)
RTFP!
Polvo
Fine lingerie stores in Lima?
As a voyeuristic man who appreciates dressing his woman in the finest lingerie, I'm wondering if I need to bring the goods from the Excited States, or will I find a store with a ready and ample supply of the finest French lingerie in Lima?
International Roaming 101
[QUOTE=Samu Ray]Yeah! My cell-phone has a sim card in it. I just buy time, I don't pay for
anything else. "claro" is what I use. I'll be in LA for about two weeks.
Thanks,[/QUOTE]
Samu Ray,
Claro is a GSM operator and when travelling outside of Peru you will only be able to connect to networks of other GSM operators. Most of the world uses the GSM standard but the US uses mostly the CDMA standard which is incompatible with GSM. Therefore, you will not be able to connect on networks such as as "Sprint PCS" and "Verizon Wireless" while you are in the US.
You will be able to connect to "T Mobile" and "AT&T" both of whom operate GSM networks. There may be others but I lose track of who offers what. You should be warned, however, that when you use a Claro SIM card outside of Peru, you are "roaming" and are subject to international roaming rates.
Look at it this way. Since Claro does not operate a network in the US, or anywhere outside of Peru, some other phone company- not Claro- is actually completing your call for you. That carrier bills Claro and Claro bills you. This is true regardless of whether you call an LA number, a Peru number or anywhere else. It is also true for incoming calls.
But Claro does not bill you at your regular rate. Claro bills you at international roaming rates because of the extra effort involved in handling your call and because it has to compensate the other carrier (That is the story but it is actually BS because they charge way more than it is costs to deliver the service). These rates are usually extortionate ($2-$3 per minute) and bills can quicky run into the hundreds and even thousands of dollars.
Of course, in your case- because you are using a pre-paid card- the service will just stop once your credit runs out. However, this will happen alot quicker than you think if you are not aware of international roaming charges.
Before you leave for LA, call Claro customer service and ask them how much they are going to charge you for calls originated in the US. This will tell you exactly what you are going to pay when you use your phone in the US. You also need to check whether international roaming service is activated on your phone. Some mobile phone companies do not activate this feature automatically, in order to prevent fraud. If it is not activated on your number, you will get to the US and your phone will refuse to connect to any network at all or will prevent you from making any calls, even though you have credit. If you do speak to customer service they should also be able to tell you which phone companies Claro has interconnect agreements with (i.e. Which phone companies your Claro phone will be able to connect to) in the US.
The standard way around all of these problems, of course, is to buy a local SIM card in the country you are visiting. However, that has its drawbacks also, as no one will know the number, but at least you will be able to dial out cheaply.
I hope this helps.
The Cat
PS I purchased a pre-paid Claro SIM card (just like yours) when I was in Lima and just switched it on here in the US for the first time. Guess what happened? Nothing! This tells me that Claro does not allow international roaming by default. You will probably have to call Claro customer service and get international roaming activated if you want to use this service while you are in the US.
