Peru’s new President, Pedro Castillo, took office on Wednesday, July 28, calling for a new constitution, a crackdown on monopolies in financial services and utilities, and a dramatic increase in health and education spending.
He said Peru needs to recover sovereignty over its vast mineral wealth, but also pledged to respect the nation’s economic model and private property, adding that the economy needs order and responsibility to prosper, according to Bloomberg, which noted concern over how far to the left Castillo and his Marxist political party will take the nation.
Investors sent Peruvian bonds sliding in the aftermath of Castillo’s inaugural speech. Peru’s dollar bonds due in a century were the second-worst performers in the world on July 29, beating only serial-defaulter Belize, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
The Mosaic Co., Tampa, which owns a majority stake in the Miski Mayo phosphate mine in Peru, had no comment on the new president on July 29.