Peru's central bank chief says Trump gives him 'goose bumps'

EghtesadOnline: The head of Peru's central bank said on Wednesday he gets the goose bumps when he thinks about what would happen to the global economy if U.S. Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump wins the November election.

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08 September 2016

Responding to questions from reporters on the sidelines of an economic forum, Julio Velarde called Trump's statements about scrapping trade deals and imposing tariffs on Chinese and Mexican imports "very dangerous."

"If the man does a fraction of what he says he will, we could go back to the '30s," Velarde said in reference to the Great Depression of the early 1930s. "It gives me the goose bumps."

The comments were videotaped and posted online by local financial daily Gestion, according to Reuters.

The Trump campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The New York businessman has broken with the Republican Party's traditional embrace of free trade. He has vowed to rip up the 12-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal to which Peru is a signatory, and renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement with Canada and Mexico that he blames for the loss of U.S. jobs.

Trump has also threatened to slap tariffs on Chinese products to show Beijing that Washington is serious about leveling the field on trade.

Velarde, named central banker of the year in 2015 by the Financial Times magazine The Banker, has headed Peru's central bank since 2006 and recently agreed to stay on for a third five-year term.

Peru's new president, Pedro Pablo Kuczynski, has also voiced worries about a Trump presidency.