President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski on Saturday addressed the need to clean Peru from corruption, so it does not undermine the country's growth.
As part of a speech at Princeton University, the Head of State attributed Peru's current growth rate —considerably above the average in LatAm— to economic reforms implemented in the 90s and 2002.
Said measures allowed the Inca nation to grow 5%-6%, although this rate has slid to around 4% partly due to corruption scandals, he affirmed.
These are further fueled by bribery accusations made by individuals ensnared in corruption cases seeking plea bargain deals.
"We have to get over that, we gotta clean up, because otherwise we may be in big trouble with our growth," he warned.
In terms of economic expansion, Mr. Kuczynski stressed Peru's main growth engines are infrastructure, large-scale investments, the agricultural industry and exports, as well as services.
"Growth comes from investment, and the investment-grade in Peru is the highest in Latin America. That's the reason we grew, so we cannot leave that […] because if we do that, we are going to be stuck," he pointed out.
The aforementioned corruption scandals, which first blew off in Brazil, have also had repercussions in other countries like Peru, where infrastructure ventures remain halted until companies involved pay corresponding penalties.
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