Public investment will grow in 2025 to S/66 billion (US$17.543 billion), setting a new record after closing 2024 at S/57.742 billion (US$15.348 billion),
Similarly, the Cabinet member pointed out that a form similar to the Friendly Consultation is being designed to better assess the quality of public spending.
"With the accrual/budget ratio, which has been used for many years, it makes no sense to accrue 100% and not complete the project. What we are aiming for is to complete the investment projects; we have the goal of completing at least 10,000 investment projects this year, meaning to effectively finish them and serve the population," he emphasized.
Arista indicated that other objectives of the Government for this year regarding local government investments are transparency, reduced execution times, and lower costs per physical targets.
On the other hand, the MEF head recalled that total public investment grew by 16% in 2024 (national government 17%; regional governments 27%; and local governments 10%).
Likewise, the economist explained that local governments could have grown more, but there were difficulties such as late transfers, adding that a supplementary credit was only signed in July.
"Therefore, in this year's Budget Law, we are providing the opportunity for the approved budget credits to also be executed during this year 2025, so that resources are not lost if they have not been accrued by December 31, 2024," he stated.
Regarding regional governments, Arista emphasized that it is important to have the administrative capacity to execute projects and that many do not prosper for this reason.
"For example, 52 of the hospitals that have been handed over to or are being built by regional governments are stalled because they have not had the administrative capacity to successfully complete these projects," he pointed out.
Remarks were made on Monday during his participation in the Muni Executive for Mayors, a meeting convened by the National Government and local authorities, aimed at promoting dialogue, coordination, and intergovernmental articulation to improve public management.