Peru's falling public debt has gone hand-in-hand with poverty reduction over the last 17 years, President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski affirmed.
"And, if we were to consider fiscal reserves, debt would go as low as 14% of GDP," he pointed out.
These levels give the Inca nation "a good chance to invest in public infrastructure as required in the future."
The statesman then pointed to a correlation between such scenario and the decline in
poverty rates, down from 54.3% of Peru's total population in 2001 to
20.7% today.
"I do not know if there is an economic theory [about this], but poverty and public debt figures are absolutely parallel. They tell us that —maybe— lower public debt is required to reduce poverty […]," he observed.
Exports
On the other hand, Mr. Kuczynski highlighted the staggering evolution of
Peruvian exports, which soared from US$6 billion in 2000 to as much as US$50 billion in 2013.
"This effect is not driven by prices, but by volume, by greater sales of mining, agroindustrial and other products. While it is true that weaker copper, gold and zinc [prices] led to a re-adjustment, we are currently overcoming this," he concluded.
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