Pedro Francke: The economy is 3% above the pre-pandemic level

The head of the Ministry of Economy and Finance (MEF), Pedro Francke, reported that the Peruvian economy grew 3% above pre-pandemic levels, according to data as of September this year.

“The GDP has continued to recover, we see all the variations compared to 2019, the huge drop we had was one of the largest in the entire continent with the quarantine. But we have recovered quickly and today we are 3% above our pre-pandemic level. This is quite significant, we have recovered and we are growing ”, explained Francke during his presentation at CADE Executives 2021.

In addition, he pointed out that within the balance sheets made by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Peru is the second country in Latin America that most has recovered. “However, although we have recovered, the trend would indicate that we should be above; that is, we still have a gap in the product to recover ”, said the minister.

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Along these lines, he explained that the indicators advanced to November show that growth continues, since electricity production shows growth of 3%. While the import of capital goods – an important indicator in public and private investment – shows an increase of 21.8% compared to the same level in 2019.

Francke added that private investment has been recovering significantly. And it is that in the third quarter of this year there was a 13% more than the prepandemic period. This was driven by investment in transportation.

Nevertheless, The head of the MEF stated that there is concern about employment, since the third quarter at the national level is still below the similar period of 2019.

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“Formal employment has also recovered, but we have not achieved everything we wanted. Employment continues to be an essential concern for us ”, he emphasized.

Tax incentives

The economy minister also confirmed that the government will give tax incentives to the tourism sector.

“We are preparing new measures for the tourism sector, some measures such as long weekends have been successful, but in particular it seems to us that the tourism sector must also be considered for the short term, for the reactivation period, tax incentives and / or also measures that can give incentives to the generation of employment ”, he pointed out.

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Likewise, he announced that it is being evaluated to provide an additional incentive for the creation of employment in this sector that was the hardest hit by the pandemic.

“We have given a measure such as the bonus to formal workers, but there have been experiences of giving additional incentives to companies that create jobs, and it seems to us that tourism is a hit sector that generates a lot of employment and has a lot of potential ”, he concluded.

Budget rulings advance

After the support of the Minister of Economy, Pedro Francke, the Budget Commission of the Congress of the Republic unanimously approved the opinions of the debt and financial balance laws for fiscal year 2022.

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Today the debate and approval of the opinion of the 2022 public budget law was scheduled.

These They must be debated and approved in plenary session before November 30.