Living in Peru : your everyday companion

Tourists to be interviewed following death in Peru

A group of British holidaymakers are to be interviewed over the death of a former City auditor who went missing on a trip to the Andes. Colin Murphy, 44, was last seen at New Year in the area of the former Inca capital Cusco in Peru, not far from the ancient site of Machu Pichu. The former HSBC auditor's body was eventually recovered two months later from the Urubamba River in Peru. It was reported that he was initially thought to have drowned, but it is understood that two post-mortem examinations have since found he suffered a head injury. (The Scotsman - click here to read complete article by Rhiannon Edward)


Dinosaur fossil found on bus in Peru's mountains

Officials found the fossil of a giant dinosaur jawbone while investigating a suspicious package on a bus in the mountains of Peru on Tuesday. The fossil, weighing some 19 pounds, was found in the cargo hold of the bus, which was headed for the capital of Lima, and had been sent on the bus company's package service. "They began to check the package because it didn't have anything to indicate what was inside. They were worried about its weight, opened it and found the fossil," said Kleber Jimenez, a local police officer. (Reuters - click here to read complete article)


Cimpor's Peru unit to start building 125 mln usd cement plant in 2008

Cimpor Cimentos de Portugal SGPS Peruvian unit Cementos Otorongo plans to start building a new cement plant in 2008, an investment estimated at 125 mln usd (about 80.5 mln eur), Jornal de Negocios reported, citing Cimpor's internal newsletter. Late last year, Cimpor acquired an 80 pct stake in Cementos Otorongo for 12.8 mln eur. At the time, the Portuguese cement group said Otorongo had plans to build a plant which would produce about 10 pct of the cement used annually in Peru. (Forbes - click here to read complete article)


Peru to give away food, subsidize oil on inflation

Peru plans to give away food to its poorest citizens and set up a fund to absorb high oil prices, the government said on Tuesday, in its latest measure in response to accelerating inflation. The government has cut spending, lowered taxes, raised interest rates, and hiked reserve requirements for banks this year to curb inflationary pressures. President Alan Garcia's approval rating has fallen to below 30 percent, mainly on higher prices for food and, to a lesser extent, high fuel prices. (Reuters - click here to read complete article)


JPMorgan Wins Peru Securities Contract

JPMorgan has won a contract to provide securities services to Cavali, Peru’s central securities depository. The shop will provide custody and asset administration services to Cavali for its portfolio of global securities. JPM also provides this service to Cedeval, El Salvador’s central securities deposit. “We are expanding region to region among all different types of clients; not only central depositories but we have central banks, insurance companies, pension funds, mutual funds,” says Fabian Banchiero, product segment head for LatAm at JPMorgan Securities Company. (Latin Finance)


Peru to Sell Sol Bonds

Peru's Finance Ministry plans to offer up to PES300m bonds on the local market today in an auction, it said. The issue will be a reopening of the 8.2% 2026 bond. Peru announced plans last week to prepay about $1.1bn of World Bank and IDB debt, using both treasury funds and proceeds from new sol-denominated issues. (Latin Finance)