Thirty-one days into her presidency, Keiko Fujimori has moved fastest on the economy: she has locked in continuity at the central bank, asked Congress for broad decree powers, chased a mining-investment target north of thirty billion dollars, and already had to buy peace with transport unions over fuel prices. Whether that adds up to a coherent playbook is still an open question in Lima.
Fujimori took the oath of office on July 28, becoming the ninth person to lead Peru in ten turbulent years, after edging past Roberto Sánchez in the June 7 runoff by a margin under fifty thousand ballots — roughly three tenths of a percentage point. A month later, her government has advanced quickly on paper while running behind the timeline she herself set for restoring order.
Economic Team Stays the Course
Rather than shake up Peru's economic leadership, Fujimori chose to keep it. Days after her runoff win she personally asked Julio Velarde to remain at the helm of the Central Reserve Bank, pointing to his record steering monetary policy, and named economist Elmer Cuba to run the Ministry of Economy and Finance. The formal paperwork took longer to catch up: the executive branch only issued the supreme resolution locking in Velarde's new five-year term on August 21, and that appointment still needs sign-off from the Senate before it is final. Business economists welcomed the pairing anyway, framing it as an early signal that the new administration would not tamper with the central bank's independence.
A Request for Emergency Lawmaking Power
The most consequential economic maneuver so far has been procedural. On August 27, Fujimori's cabinet signed off on a bill asking Congress to let the executive branch legislate by decree for 120 days; it landed in the newly bicameral legislature the next evening. The package bundles 66 separate measures across eight themes — citizen security and prison policy, small-business finance, labor rules, tax and customs simplification, foreign-trade facilitation, civil-service reform, housing, and disaster response tied to this year's coastal El Niño. Congress has not voted, and a decision may not come until mid-to-late September under the chamber's new two-house review process. Opposition senator Jaime Delgado has been among the loudest skeptics, arguing that a delegation this broad crosses a line — as he put it, "this isn't about handing over a blank check."
Chasing a Mining Windfall
Fujimori's clearest economic bet is underground. Prime Minister Luis Galarreta told the lower chamber the government wants to unlock more than thirty-three billion dollars in mining investment over five years and greenlight roughly 240 exploration and extraction projects before the year is out. Energy and Mines Minister Guillermo Shinno has floated an even bigger number — forty billion dollars over the same stretch — remarks that visibly cheered attendees at a mining conference in Lima. Tamiko Hasegawa, who chaired the gathering and also works in sustainability for mining company Anglo American, told a regional broadcaster: "it certainly builds confidence to have them here with such positive messages." Galarreta separately pledged to finally activate Peru's long-dormant free-trade pact with Hong Kong before year's end.
A Fuel Revolt Tests the New Government
That investment pitch ran headlong into a domestic crisis within two weeks of her taking office. Diesel and gasoline prices climbed sharply across several regions in early August, and on August 10 transport unions in the Amazonian region of Ucayali launched a regional strike, blocking the Federico Basadre highway and briefly the local airport as diesel topped twenty soles a gallon in Pucallpa. Similar stoppages hit Tacna, Arequipa and parts of Loreto in the same window. The government initially urged patience while ministries settled in; regional leaders did not wait. Five days in, Fujimori announced a targeted subsidy of fifteen to twenty percent for cargo, passenger, river and motorcycle-taxi drivers, a concession that persuaded the unions to stand down.
What the Data Say — and Where They Disagree
Before Fujimori even took power, Moody's Ratings had concluded that her win improved the outlook for private investment by preserving the existing macroeconomic framework and central-bank independence, while warning that deep political polarization and a fragmented Congress would remain a lasting drag on Peru's credit profile. That guarded optimism shows up in the numbers: the Central Reserve Bank's July survey found sixteen of eighteen business-sentiment indicators in positive territory, and its twelve-month economic-outlook gauge climbed to its best reading since November 2017 — nearly nine years. The three-month gauge improved as well, crossing sixty points for the first time since uncertainty around the runoff had dragged it down earlier in the year. Where forecasters genuinely split is on growth itself: the government's own multi-year budget framework now projects 3.4 percent GDP expansion for 2026, and Cuba has told television interviewers the country could hit 3.5 or even 4 percent, while the central bank's own survey of financial firms and private analysts puts the realistic range closer to 3.1 to 3.3 percent, with the gap largely explained by how hard El Niño ends up hitting fishing and farming.
A Diaspora That Delivered
Fujimori's win depended heavily on Peruvians abroad, more than 1.2 million of whom were registered to vote from outside the country. She carried roughly 63 percent of that overseas vote, with her largest single margin coming out of the United States. Remittance flows from those communities remain a concern for economists as tighter U.S. immigration enforcement complicates money transfers home. Washington, for its part, has signaled continuity: U.S. Ambassador Bernie Navarro said shortly after her win: "we remain united on regional security, trade and our peoples' prosperity."
Campaign Promises Meet Governing Reality
Two of Fujimori's highest-profile social pledges have already slipped. She told Congress on inauguration day that her government would immediately begin doubling the Pensión 65 stipend for extremely poor seniors, from 350 to 700 soles every two months — but by August 26, Fujimori herself said the improvement would really start showing up the following year, effectively pushing the promise into 2027. A companion pledge to raise the minimum wage 15 percent, to 1,300 soles, has run into similar friction: Economy Minister Cuba has said the first installment likely will not land until October or November, with a second tranche pushed to April 2027, while the labor minister has separately said no firm month has been set at all. Asked in late August whether her administration was moving fast enough on her broader 100-day agenda, Prime Minister Galarreta cautioned: "not every result comes in six months." With the decree-powers request still pending and the flagship social promises delayed, Fujimori's first month reads as more blueprint than delivery.
