With only days to go before completing his first year in office, Peruvian President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski said he expects to get the economy back on track during his second year.
The Head of State thus remained confident in reversing Peru's productive activity, forced to a halt by the Lava Jato ("Car Wash") corruption scandal and the aftermath of
Coastal El Niño phenomenon disasters.
As is known, the former led to the halting of major infrastructure ventures like the
Southern Gas Pipeline, thus "costing one [percentage] point [of GDP], with Coastal El Niño costing another half point."
As a result, the government has been forced to revise its initial 4.5% growth forecast downward to 3%.
"Lava Jato is going away. Its legal consequences evidently persist, but the impact on projects is no longer as direct," the statesman said during an interview with local La Republica daily.
"And I hope Coastal El Niño doesn't come back," he added.
While he conceded that it has been a rough first year, Mr. Kuczynski underlined highlights like a considerable rise in
fishing and minerals, as well as
growing exports and agro-industrial production.
Executive-legislative ties
"I am confident this is going to be a very good administration. There are changes of paramount importance that the population cannot see very clearly right now. This is a transparent government," he concluded.
(END) MVF/DHT/MVB