Peru's Executive Branch plans to work on a program to boost economic growth, which will be revealed in the coming weeks, Economy and Finance Minister Alfredo Thorne announced on Thursday.
In this sense, the government official observed "fiscal expenditure could always be increased" and what the country currently needs is a gradual upscaling of fiscal revenues. This, he noted, is already underway.
"We will prepare an economy-boosting program in a few weeks; further announcements will be made then," he informed.
Economic snapshot
The Peruvian economy grew 3.9% in 2016, thus beating market expectations (3.8%), National Institute of Statistics and Informatics (INEI) data revealed.
Last week, Minister Thorne noted said result "demands that the new government of Pedro Pablo Kuczynski continue implementing economic measures that ensure over 4% growth in 2017 and 5% growth in the medium term."
The Ministry's 2017 growth forecast was revised downwards from 4.8% to 3.8% due to the massive corruption scandal featuring Brazilian giant Odebrecht graft in Peru that put the Southern Gas Pipeline construction on hiatus.
Industrial Reactivation Forum
Remarks were made during the "Industrial Reactivation" executive forum, organized by Peru's Production Ministry to boost the said sector in the short term.
The event convened Prime Minister Fernando Zavala, as well as Ministers Bruno Giuffra (Production), Eduardo Ferreyros (Foreign Trade and Tourism), Alfonso Grados (Labor and Employment Promotion) and Patricia Garcia (Health).
Business leaders from Peru's National Confederation of Private Business Associations (Confiep), National Society of Industries (SNI), among others, were also present.
(END) MDV/JJN/DHT/MVB