Finance and Economy Minister Alex Contreras has affirmed that Peru's economic policy has two challenges: to stabilize the economic cycle, which means moving to the recovery phase in a context in which the country prepares to face Global El Niño, and the great legacy of this administration will be to boost the potential GDP, that is, to increase the economy's growth capacity.
"We are facing a challenging economic scenario in the international context and a positive one at the local level, after having experienced important shocks that affected the economy, but the relevant aspect is that we are recovering," the high-ranking official said.
On the other hand, Contreras explained that the Peruvian economy has been moderating and slowing down over the past 15 years, noting that it has lost the ability to grow; so, the economic challenge of this administration will be to reverse this trend and boost its growth capacity again.
The Economy-Finance sector's head remarked that, after a drop in production in the first quarter, indicators reflect that we are entering a recovery process; the electricity, for example, is a good leading indicator of how economic activity is improving, and it is noted that production started to recover in July.
The same occurs with online sales recorded by the National Superintendence of Tax Administration (Sunat), which are experiencing recovery, too.
"The impact of Cyclone Yaku, El Niño, and a sharp slowing down of the economy, were still felt in June, but we have witnessed an important recovery of our economy since July and August," he emphasized.
2024 Budget
Minister Contreras reported that the Public Sector Budget Bill for Fiscal Year 2024 is the first one prepared by the current administration, which amounts to S/241 billion (about US$64.864 billion), 12% higher than the Opening Institutional Budget (PIA) for 2023.
The Cabinet member underscored that the budget's main priorities are water and sanitation, health, education, and infrastructure —a historic budget for public order, security, and sanitation.
(END) NDP/GDS/JJN/RMB/MVB
Published: 9/7/2023