Peru withdrew its reserves from U.S. banks.

The government of President Alan Garcia said it removed its gold, silver and cash reserves in order to prevent the United States from freezing the assets. “Due to hardening in our relations with our creditors because the amount we pay on our foreign debt was limited, the Central Reserve Bank, in coordination with the government, adopted a series of measures to protect the availability of our reserves,” said Hector Neyra, general manager of the Central Reserve Bank. On July 28, Garcia announced that Peru would limit payments on its $14-billion foreign debt to 10% of its export earnings. Peru’s total reserves were placed at $2.8 billion.