BCRP cuts 2026 growth forecast on El Niño, chief warns new AFP withdrawal would 'destroy' pension system

Presenting the central bank's September Reporte de Inflación, BCRP president Julio Velarde cut Peru's 2026 GDP growth forecast from 3.4% to 3.2% and 2027's from 3.2% to 3%, citing the impact of the El Niño phenomenon on productive sectors and inflationary pressure. Velarde also criticized a new bill — presented September 18 by congresswoman Catherin Palomino of Juntos por el Perú in the newly bicameral Congress — that would allow a ninth extraordinary withdrawal from private pension funds (AFPs), this time justified by a possible El Niño-driven economic crisis. 'Every country in the world has a pension system; here we're destroying it,' Velarde said.