Home » Blog » Peru To Begin Trading International ETFs

Peru To Begin Trading International ETFs

by Michael Johnston on July 14, 2009 | ETFs Mentioned: EPU

Just weeks after iShares beat Global X to the launch of the first Peru-focused ETF, the country’s Finance Minister announced that the Lima Stock Exchange will begin listing global exchange-traded products to meet “huge” investor demand for international exposure. ETFs “are the future in markets,” said Luis Carranza. “It’s better to prepare for the future and take it head on than to be swept away by it,” he said. While ETFs are hugely popular in the U.S. and U.K., they are not as widely-traded in emerging economies, which figure to be major sources of growth for existing ETF issuers in coming years.

Less than a month after global investors were given the ability to invest in the Peru markets via the iShares MSCI All Peru Capped Index (EPU), the Finance Ministry is taking steps to allow Peruvians to easily invest in global equity markets on the national exchange. The Lima General Index is among the best-performing markets in the world this year, up more than 80% recently. The bump is due in large part to speculation that a rebound in prices of the country’s main commodity exports – such as precious metals, cotton, and coffee – will boost the economy. According to Bloomberg, Peru’s export revenue is down by nearly one-third this year due to declines in metals prices. The government is using three years of government surpluses to fund a massive stimulus plan to offset dips in private investment. “We have a pretty aggressive stimulus package,” Carranza said. “Public investment is replacing private investment and should grow 50% this year.”