Former presidential candidate and Former Economy and Finance Minister, Pedro Pablo Kuczynski, today hailed the 2014 poverty reduction in Peru and said economic growth and social programs are crucial to continue moving forward towards that objective.
“We have to remember that, in 2001, when I took control of the Economy Ministry, the poverty rate was 54% and now came down to 22%, which is very positive,” he noted.
Kuczynski believes both economic growth and social programs have an effect on this objective, because without growth, there are not resources to fight againstpoverty, but social programs are required to reach the poorest people.
On Thursday, the National Institute of Statistics and Informatics (INEI) informed that poverty in Peru fell from 23.9% in 2013 to 22.7% last year, which means more than 280,000 Peruvians left poverty in 2014.
The central theme now is to “invigorate the economy.” Hence, the importance of boosting large mining projects, as was the case in the eighties with Tintaya, amid an economic environment with more unfavorable prices compared to the present.
At that time, copper was quoted at 30 cents on the dollar per pound and gold at US$100 per ounce; now quotes for copper stay at US$2.80 and for goal at about US$1,200.
“That is why we should not be that pessimistic about the current copper price, we can move forward, our costs are very low,” he said.
As for the Tia Maria mining project in Arequipa, he recommended to clarify doubts about the environment and arguments by anti-mining groups, such as the one led by Marco Arna, who was also against Conga project in Cajamarca.
“First, we need an absolutely solid commitment from the company toward the environment, and I think it [the company] has come close to it,” he said.
For instance, Tambo river water will not be used for the mine operation, and seawater will be desalinated to that end instead.
Secondly, he added, we have to work together with farmers to help them build dams and reservoirs, something that has been done before.
(END) MDV/FHG/RMB/MVB
Published: 4/24/2015