March 1, 2006
Latin America's central banks are winning the fight against inflation, but better economic standing has created new hurdles for them.
Latin America has several outstanding central banks, but in the second LatinFinance annual ranking of the best in the region, it was a dark horse – Peru's Banco Central de Reserva – that ran away with our top prize. Our panel of five experts, some of whom chose to keep their identities confidential in exchange for full candor, included an economist, credit analysts and investors. While central banks in the region's two biggest economies – Brazil and Mexico – tend to come under the most market scrutiny, Peru's central bank has turned in an impressive performance under interim president Oscar Dancourt. Peru has consistently undershot its inflation target since 2002, and las