Production Minister Jose Luis Chicoma affirmed that the Government will consider a greater economic stimulus package only if a second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic hits the country.
The minister noted that the details on this package cannot be disclosed yet, but in such a case, if adopted, the package would include greater measures.
"In the coming days, we are going to see the effect of
Christmas holidays, since 70% of Peruvians go shopping in the week before Christmas. The effect will be seen in the following two weeks. Then, it is not yet clear which has been the impact," he explained.
According to the government official, measures have been taken to avoid more COVID-19 infections, such as
restricting shopping centers to 40% capacity, as well as designating police members and soldiers to control the perimeter around malls and conglomerates.
"We are coordinating with dozens of municipalities in Lima Metropolitan Area and dozens of regional governments to install perimeter fences in order to control capacity, as well as the correct use of face masks and alcohol-based hand sanitizer," he added.
He went on to say that local governments are responsible for controlling the capacity, and most of them have been provided support in this task, which has prevented an uncontrollable influx of people, like in previous years.
"Together with the Production Ministry personnel, we have carried out monitoring every day in December so as to see the evolution of crowds," he stated.
(END) MDV/JJN/RMB/MVB
Published: 12/31/2020