LIMA, Peru (Reuters) -- Peruvian President Alejandro Toledo's efforts to
                 soothe a nation riled by sharp social protest may not satisfy those awaiting
                 real results from government promises, analysts and lawmakers said on
                 Monday.

                 "People who want work and better salaries ... haven't been satisfied ... there is
                 nothing concrete explaining what actions the government will take and when,"
                 political analyst Ernesto Velit told Reuters.

                 Toledo, who took office in July promising to end a three-year economic downturn
                 and create 1 million jobs, told Peruvians in a televised address late on Sunday that
                 his government had made advances in stamping out the poverty that grips more
                 than half the Andean nation of 26 million.

                 But as state employees, teachers, and farmers take to the streets in Lima and across
                 Peru to demand that Toledo deliver on campaign promises, analysts say patience is
                 wearing thin.

                 Last week, farmers shut down Peru's most important regional airport while on
                 Monday judicial workers staged a 24-hour strike demanding higher wages. Toledo's
                 approval rating, meanwhile, fell to 43.1 percent in September from 52 percent in
                 August, according to a University of Lima poll.

                 In his address, Toledo said his government had already taken important steps like
                 tax reductions, selected salary hikes, slashed defense spending and infrastructure
                 works. He said more would be coming -- but not overnight.

                 "I know this is a difficult time and the demonstrations and social demands are
                 legitimate ... The creation of jobs, the extreme poverty, the expectations of
                 Peruvians cannot be resolved in 60 days," the 55-year-old economist said.

                 He also restated many of the pledges he has made since his campaign -- including
                 the creation of some 49,000 jobs in the first stage of an emergency work program,
                 new roads, Internet in rural schools and 50,000 new homes in a public housing
                 program.

                 "Things have gotten tricky for Toledo in an unprecedented way -- all the marches,
                 the protests," opposition lawmaker Jorge del Castillo told Reuters.

                 Peru's economy -- worth $54 billion at the end of 2000 -- contracted 1.7 percent in
                 the first half of 2001, and Economy Minister Pedro Pablo Kuczynski has said next
                 year's growth could fall below the government's gross domestic product growth
                 goal of 5.5 pe rcent.

                 "Some social demands can be eased but ... it's important to legislate (housing,
                 work) programs. If that happens, there will be real social approval," Del Castillo
                 said.

                 Del Castillo added that reaching across party lines would be key and said his
                 American Revolutionary Popular Party (APRA) would be ready to work with
                 Toledo's Peru Posible.

                 The government said it would stick to its plan and Toledo has said he will not
                 tolerate violent protest.

                 "There are a lot of people criticizing and saying there haven't been any advances,
                 that we've been distracted with strikes and marches but ... we have kept on
                 governing," Prime Minister Roberto Danino told RPP radio.

                 Toledo said in his speech that Peru's problems were much more serious than once
                 imagined because the 1990-2000 government of ousted ex-President Alberto
                 Fujimori, who is in self-exile in Japan, had manipulated figures.

                 "The dictatorship tricked Peruvians about the country's real situation," said Toledo,
                 adding his government would revise statistical and finance information.

                    Copyright 2001 Reuters.