César Revilla: “You have to evaluate how many will benefit (a new withdrawal from the AFPs)”

The president of the Economic Commission of the Congress, Cesar Revilla, has made it clear that during his tenure, the proposals that seek to authorize the seventh withdrawal of funds from the AFPs will be evaluated, having the voice of the affiliates. In addition, he informed that the Fonavi issue is a priority, as well as the pension reform.

Are the bills that propose a new withdrawal from the AFPs going to be evaluated?

—All the initiatives of the congressmen will be technically evaluated, the actors involved will be invited and the real impact of each one of these (proposals) will be seen. It is necessary to evaluate who is going to benefit and how many people in a state of vulnerability the norm is going to help.

—Then, they are going to be debated, because in the previous legislature it was not done.

—Of course, but it is not that they are going to debate like crazy or due to pressure. Let’s first see what happens with the macroeconomic indicators. The MEF has to arrive and explain to us how the situation is and what it could generate. The minister of Economy, a couple of days ago, he said he was concerned that this (the withdrawals) may lower the country’s credit rating. So, he has to explain to us well what is happening.

Distribution. César Revilla of Fuerza Popular chairs the Commission for the Economy, Banking, Finance and Financial Intelligence. Photo: diffusion

What criteria will they take into account?

—Many people who have already withdrawn and who, for example, have the minimum salary, have to see how much they have left in their accounts and if they will be able to withdraw the 4 UIT. There are people who currently do not even have S / 500 in their accounts. That is why they have to be honest, clear numbers, a broad and technical analysis, with real data.

-Will the affiliates also be summoned?

—Of course, affiliates have to be included and they will have to explain what they need and how they feel. All this will be seen in due course.

—What are the Commission’s priorities?

—In the order in which the projects are, you will work. The first thing to dictate is Fonavi. We are looking at the observations of the Executive to pave us and begin to resolve that issue. That is what is being worked on, but all the proposals from colleagues have to be evaluated.

—In this period, will the reform of the pension system be prioritized?

—There is a promise from the Executive to send its reform project on September 15. It will be contrasted with what we have from the working group. It is undeniable that we need a reform and that there is user dissatisfaction. So we cannot postpone it, but it has to be a reform and a broad and responsible debate. Under my presidency, an issue will not be seen due to pressure.

What factors will be taken into account?

—We are facing the possibility of entering a recession, so if someone is alerting us that passing a bill is going to lower our credit rating risk as a country, I have to listen to it. I can’t blind myself because of the EAP, more than 80% is informal and has neither ONP nor AFP. So that population is the one that these macroeconomic indicators affect the most when the recession begins.

—The Commission has its reform project as well.

—The MEF has mentioned that the project that was worked on still needed more analysis. That is why we are waiting for the document, because we cannot let Peruvians remain unprotected either. The economically active population will decrease. If our elderly population is also going to increase, then we have to see how we are going to solve that.