Julio Velarde, the president of the Central Reserve Bank of Peru, has received the first Premio Legado Peru for his career and economic impact.
The award was presented to Velarde amid applause during a ceremony organised jointly by the Peruvian University of Applied Sciences and the daily newspaper El Comercio.
Velarde was first appointed as president of the Central Reserve Bank of Peru in 2006. He has been ratified in the position across four presidential terms, serving under former leaders Ollanta Humala, Pedro Pablo Kuczynski, and Pedro Castillo, as well as current president Keiko Fujimori.
The Central Reserve Bank of Peru functions as the country's independent monetary authority, responsible for controlling inflation and issuing currency in the South American nation. Velarde completed a post-graduate degree in economics at the Universidad del Pacifico, where he ranked first in his graduating class. He later earned a master's degree and completed doctoral studies in economics at Brown University in Rhode Island, alongside advanced economic studies at the Kiel Institute for the World Economy in Germany.
During his tenure, Velarde has received major international recognition for central banking. In 2020, he was named Central Banker of the Americas, and in 2015, he was named Global Central Banker of the Year, with both honors conferred by The Banker magazine, a financial publication owned by the Financial Times Group.
Recognition of economic impact
Speaking during the ceremony, Milagros Morgan, rector of the Peruvian University of Applied Sciences, said Velarde has made a significant impact on the recent history of Peru through economics and public service.
Morgan added that throughout his leadership of the central bank, Velarde has confronted complex economic conditions while helping preserve monetary stability and strengthening public trust in the institution.
Juan Aurelio Arevalo Miro Quesada, editorial director of El Comercio, said that part of Peru's macroeconomic success over recent decades cannot be understood without the role of the central bank.
Arevalo Miro Quesada highlighted the country's low inflation, noting that Peru has recorded the lowest inflation rate in Latin America and achieved its period of lowest inflation in 150 years.
El Comercio, headquartered in Lima, is one of Peru's oldest daily newspapers, while the Peruvian University of Applied Sciences is a private university established in the capital in 1994.
Inflation policy and institutional stability
After receiving the Premio Legado Peru, Velarde recalled that low inflation resulted from multiple factors, including building political consensus after the country experienced severe periods of high inflation. He said there is currently a commitment by the government not to request loans from the central bank.
Velarde noted that Peru established a specific inflation target range of 2 percent, which differs from the higher target rates set by other Latin American countries.
Velarde said it was difficult for him to understand why most Latin American nations set higher inflation targets when all developed countries aim for 2 percent. He said he saw no benefit in aiming for higher inflation simply because a country is located in Latin America.
Velarde stated that price stability allows a country to achieve higher and healthier economic growth. However, he warned that Peru continues to face periods of political instability, describing that instability as very costly.
Since Velarde assumed leadership of the Central Reserve Bank of Peru in 2006, the country has had 11 presidents, more than 20 economy ministers, and 31 presidents of the Council of Ministers, reflecting frequent political turnover in government.
Leadership and technical independence
Arevalo Miro Quesada said during his address that the country is accustomed to distrusting its own public institutions. He said Velarde has shown it is possible to build institutions that outlast successive governments through long-term public policies, technical independence, and a commitment to meritocracy.
Diego Macera, a director at the Peruvian Institute of Economics and a member of the central bank's board of directors, highlighted Velarde's leadership, noting that the central bank chief sets the national agenda with sober and clear commentary.
Macera said Velarde does not appear in the press as much as people talk about him, adding that a precise level of public exposure can be far more effective for a central banker. He noted that this approach has not prevented Velarde from being the most recognised public official in the country.
Macera added that outside economics, Velarde is a highly cultured person with whom colleagues can discuss many topics, saying that Velarde shines with his own light.
The Peruvian Institute of Economics is a private research organization based in Lima that focuses on economic policy, while the central bank remains tasked with preserving monetary stability across the country.
