Food prices drag down Garcia's popularity in Peru

By Jean Luis Arce

LIMA, April 20 (Reuters) - Peruvian President Alan Garcia's approval rating sank to the lowest level of his second term, hammered by rising food prices that have stoked public discontent, according to an opinion poll published on Sunday.

Garcia's approval rating fell to 26 percent, despite strong growth in the Andean country's economy, according to an Ipsos Apoyo survey published in local daily El Comercio.

The president's disapproval rating was 70 percent. Some 57 percent of those polled said rising prices were the main reason behind their disapproval.

Early in his second term, which began in 2006, a poll by the same firm put Garcia's approval rating at 63 percent.

Peru has enjoyed a six-year economic boom with growth now running at about 9 percent a year, but the benefits are not trickling down to many poor who don't have enough to eat.

About 42 percent of Peruvians, or 12 million people, live in poverty.

"When people see these (growth) figures and a minister says ... that tomorrow we will be a richer country and on the way to joining the first world ..., what they see is what they have and their condition, and I imagine what they feel is anger," political analyst Alberto Adrianzen said.

The government this week sent troops banging on the doors of the poor in night-time operations to hand out groceries to counter the spectre of political instability.

Over the last few months, prices for basic staples like rice and oil have surged at double-digit rates, eroding the spending power of the poor.

Peru depends on food imports, so residents are feeling the pinch of rising global commodity prices.

The central bank has slashed tariffs, raised interest rates and increased deposit requirements for banks this year in a bid to ease inflationary pressures.

Garcia's first term in the 1980s was an economic disaster, when hyper-inflation battered living standards and made long lines for staples common. He has vowed not to repeat the same mistakes.

The poll, conducted Tuesday through Thursday, surveyed 1,000 people in 16 cities across Peru. It has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percent. (Writing by Simon Gardner)