Peru has enough savings to deal with current crisis: Finance minister

Lima, capital of Peru. Photo: ANDINA. Sketched by the Pan Pacific Agency.

LIMA, Mar 28, 2020, ANDINA. Economy and Finance Minister Maria Antonieta Alva on Friday affirmed that Peru has enough savings to deal with the current crisis caused by the spread of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) around the world, ANDINA reported.

According to the cabinet member, the South American country has various fiscal instruments to attenuate the economic impact of the necessary state of emergency imposed to counter the spread of COVID-19.

The first one, the minister explained, which has been used since the early days of the crisis, is budget reallocation.

“The first fiscal front constitutes budget reallocations, and this is what we have been working on through the urgency decrees. So, in the initial stage, we are working with budget reallocations,” she told reporters.

According to the high-ranking official, the second line represents the Fiscal Stabilization Fund (FEF) resources.

“The FEF has a board of directors, which I and the Central Reserve Bank (BCR) Governor are part of. We keep in touch to make the best decision,” she announced.

It should be noted that — through the request of legislative powers — the Executive Branch announced that it will have FEF resources — amounting to S/16 billion (about US$4.65 billion), equivalent to an injection of over 2% of GDP — at its disposal.

In this sense, Minister Alva affirmed the third fiscal instrument is the line of debt.

“Because of our fiscal soundness, we have better debt conditions in the capital market, and we also have contingent lines with multilateral bodies,” she stressed.

“Over the last few days, we have been working to determine which is the best combination of the instruments we have, but the most important thing is that our savings allow us to face this crisis.”

Remarks were made in a televised press conference, within the framework of a mandatory social isolation imposed to prevent the COVID-19 from further spreading in the South American country.

Initially set to last from March 16 to 30, the measure has been extended thru April 12.

On this occasion, the President was joined by members of the Council of Ministers and other authorities. The event was held at the Government Palace in Lima.

Friday marks the twelfth day of mandatory social isolation.

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