Peru central bank says economy could have shrunk in third quarter

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Peru's economy may have shrunk in the third quarter of this year, the country's central bank chief economist said on Friday, signaling a possible third straight quarter of contraction in the recession-hit Andean economy.

The world's No. 2 copper producer slid into a technical recession earlier this year after two quarters of negative growth due to the adverse impacts of the El Nino weather phenomenon, lower private investment and lingering effects from earlier social conflicts.

"With the recent information, it is possible that we may have a negative growth rate in the third quarter," the bank's chief economist Adrian Armas said in a presentation.

The comments came a day after the bank lowered Peru's benchmark interest rate by 25 basis points to 7.00%, its third consecutive cut as the monetary authority eases borrowing costs in an effort to help claw its way out of recession.

Peru's national statistics agency is scheduled to next report official GDP data on November 15.

(Reporting by Marco Aquino; Writing by Brendan O'Boyle; Editing by Sarah Morland)