Economy-Finance Minister Pedro Francke on Tuesday affirmed that —starting this week— his department will work on a tax reform proposal, which will be later submitted to Congress with the aim of requesting special powers to legislate on this matter.
"The proposal, which we are working on this week and we will soon submit to Congress, is a tax reform plan. To that end, we will request legislative powers," he explained.
Regarding the observations made by the Fiscal Council on the Multiannual Macroeconomic Framework, which is expected to contain very optimistic projections concerning growth and tax revenues, Francke mentioned that the
Ministry of Economy and Finance (MEF) states that such projections are conservative.
"The projections are conservative, because —as a whole— they were made under the assumption that there are no new tax rules, that is to say, the projections are based on existing tax laws," he explained.
"That is why the public sector budget (for FY 2022) is a specified amount, which estimates revenues based on the existing tax laws," the Cabinet member added.
The minister commented that, although it might seem a lot, if one compares Peru's revenues and expenditures with those of other countries —as a percentage of GDP— they are extremely limited.
"In comparison with the rest of nations in Latin America and OECD member countries, the Peruvian State devotes very little to education, health, and infrastructure," he affirmed.
"We want to increase that spending, but we need more revenues for doing so, because we cannot increase it with fiscal deficit," the government official pointed out.
Remarks were made at a press conference held on Tuesday to present the 2022 budget and the scope of the Multiannual Macroeconomic Framework (MMM) 2022-2025.
(END) CNA/JJN/RMB/MVB
Published: 8/31/2021