Peru's central bank said on Thursday it held its benchmark lending rate steady at 5.25 percent, after raising it in January to stem inflation. In a Reuters poll, 10 out of 11 economists surveyed said they expected the rate would be left unchanged. One economist said Peru's central bank should raise the rate to 5.5 percent.
The central bank's inflation target for this year is 2 percent, plus or minus a tolerance band of one percentage point.