PERUVIAN INSURANCE GROWTH SLOWED BY ECONOMIC UNCERTAINTIES

Peruvian insurers have reported collective sales in 2001 of $571.3m, up only fractionally on the country’s overall 2000 result. Non-life sales grew by 3.3%, while life business was up 1.6%. The result was pegged back by Peru’s continuing economic slump, which was aggravated in 2001 by the prior year’s political crisis which forced ex-president Alberto Fujimori to flee the country. The country’s economy grew by just 0.2% in 2001. Analysts, however, are optimistic about prospects for healthy premium growth in 2002, given that Peru’s overall economic outlook is expected to improve, buoyed by several recently established industrial and mining projects.