projected that, if things are done right in Peru, the economy could grow by up to 3.5% this year without major obstacles.
"The International Monetary Fund (IMF) forecasts 2.8% growth for this year. We believe that a non-optimistic scenario would be to think of a 3% increase; in fact, we think that if we do things well, we could reach 3.5% growth without much difficulty," he told RPP Noticias on June 13.
"That is what we are working on, particularly focusing on public investment spending and (...)," Perez Reyes stated.
IMF calls for fiscal stability
Last year, Peru registered a fiscal deficit of 3.5% of GDP; now it is 2.7%, and the trend indicates that it will continue to decline.
The government official stated that there is talk of modifying the fiscal target.
"The target for this year was set at a fiscal deficit of 2.2% of GDP, and what we are saying is that we close at 2.5%. The trend shows that we are (actually) going below 2.5%," Perez Reyes pointed out.
"We believe that we can reach a fiscal deficit of 2.2% of GDP, but we don't want to set a target that might be at risk of not being met, as it would be the third year of noncompliance," he noted.
In that regard, the minister stated that there is indeed austerity in the government, and that approach will be maintained, accompanied by an intention to significantly increase tax revenues.
"Tax revenues have grown significantly in recent months, partly due to the increase in mineral prices and also in consumption," he indicated.
Perez Reyes said that the effort will focus on increasing revenues, which are currently growing at a double-digit rate.