LIMA (Reuters) - Peru's monthly inflation rate slowed for the second month in a row May to 0.09%, bringing annual inflation down to its lowest level in three years, according to data published on Saturday by national statistics agency INEI.
On a yearly basis, prices in May slowed to 2%, within the central bank's target range and below the annual rate recorded a month prior as the country shakes off the effects of the COVID pandemic and other shocks.
The May easing was the result of a drop in prices of both food and non-alcoholic beverages, according to the consumer price index (CPI) for Metropolitan Lima, the inflation reference for the Andean nation.
Core inflation - which excludes food and energy prices because of their high volatility - rose 0.16% last month.
Falling annual inflation within the central bank target range of between 1% and 3% could help the bank maintain its monetary easing cycle. Peru's central bank reduced the key interest rate by 25 basis points to 5.75% in May, following a reduction in April and forecasts that the CPI will continue its downward trend this year.
(Reporting by Marco Aquino and Nelson Bocanegra; Writing by Lucinda Elliott; editing by Diane Craft)
