Elsa Palacio is struggling under the weight of four big shopping bags, but she is beaming. “I always come here to check out the special offers,” she says, pointing a thumb behind her towards the Max department store at the Megaplaza mall in Los Olivos, a district of northern Lima.

Mrs Palacio, a nurse from San Martin de Porras, a poor neighbourhood nearby, says she feels woefully underpaid, but with the wages from her husband and son, the family has an income of about 1,500 soles (about $484, €355, £239) a month – enough, she says, to get by and enjoy the occasional shopping spree.