PCM responds to the head of the Fiscal Council: “It is far from the truth”

The new president of the Fiscal Council, Alonso Segura, considers that the Government of Dina Boluarte lacks clarity in its economic plan and from the top Palace They have not taken the criticism well.

“And taking off my hat to the Fiscal Council, and as an economist, I wonder what are the medium-term oriented policies?” The new head of the entity that ensures the transparency and institutionality of public finances was questioned in dialogue with Canal N.

In Segura’s opinion, part of the problems faced by the Executive come from the actions of Congress and “the permissiveness of the Ministry of Economy”, which, in addition, seeks to modify the trajectory of fiscal accounts when measures like this “burden the next Government with the part strong consolidation”, which is why he recommends “some more effort” to this management. It is worth adding that the MEF seeks for the fiscal deficit to reach 1% of GDP only in 2028 and for this year it would be 2.5%.

When consulted by La República in a press conference, The president of the Council of Ministers, Gustavo Adrianzén, said he was surprised by Segura’s words.

“I am extremely surprised that in my new position I have to make statements of this nature, which in my opinion are far from the truth,” he said.

According to the premier, Dina Boluarte’s administration—despite the fact that in its first year it brought the worst GDP result in 30 years, not counting the pandemic—has an economic plan that is producing successes and the figures support it: controlled inflation at 2.1% and GDP growth of 3.4% expected for June, in addition to “attractive interest rates” and a “solid economic reserve.”

Do the numbers really support Adrianzén? Inflation is managed by the Central Reserve Bank of Peru (BCRP), so as far as GDP is concerned – where the MEF does have influence— in March it fell again to 0.28% due to the deterioration of manufacturing, fishing, telecommunications and construction. The former head of the Sunat Luis Arias Minaya classified the figure as “a slowdown that will cool expectations.” At the same time, the BCRP itself revealed that pessimism is once again lurking among private investors, especially in the short term.

Background

In recent weeks, the Executive Branch has openly responded to criticism from various autonomous fronts. For example, Julio Velarde (BCRP) assured that the MEF has lost technical management of the economy and has been bowed down by Congress and the Constitutional Court, to which Minister Arista responded by asking the banker that his institution should be more proactive in reduce the reference interest rate—by 5.75%—to make credit cheaper and speed up recovery.

Here, the Centrum PUCP professor Kurt Burneo explained for this newspaper that this type of pushback does not help political stabilization and fuels instability.

CF warns of damage after the pension reform

He Fiscal Council warned that regulatory changes in the pension system would generate greater public spending and are not contemplated even in the medium-term fiscal path and would further complicate compliance with the rules and fiscal sustainability; Therefore, they recommended that they return to commissions for a broad debate or, if approved, that “the Executive Branch go to constitutional bodies.”

Along these lines, the CF maintains that the consumption pension — which will be administered only by the AFPs — is a regressive measure that will provide relief to people with greater purchasing power at the expense of income and would cost 0.2% and 0.3% of percentage points of GDP per year. Segura publicly stated that the Executive has to observe this initiative and any that generate losses to the treasury.

Fact

0.28% fell on GDP in March. This brake could have cooled recovery expectations: MEF expects to rebound 3.1% this year.