The 86 pages of the presidential speech of peter castle they did not have a positive impact on the country’s main unions, as their representatives questioned the president’s message.
In the first minutes of his speech, the head of state stated that Peru is the country that has grown the most in the region. This contrasted with the Latin American reality, since the country grew 3.84% in the first quarter of the year, below Chile (7.2%). And as for projections for this year, the 3.1% expansion of the Peruvian GDP, foreseen by the Central Reserve Bank (BCR)is also below the estimates of other countries such as Ecuador (3.7%) or Colombia (4%).
In this regard, the President of the Association of Exporters (ADEX), Julio Pérez Alvánstated that the president forgot to mention that the International Monetary Fund has just lowered its growth forecast for this year, from 3% to 2.8%.
“In 2023 we are going to see the disastrous effects, in economic matters, of this Government,” he assured.
Another highly criticized aspect was Castillo’s assertion about the recovery of employment, which would have reached levels prior to the pandemicwhen it comes to a half truth.
In that sense, the President of the National Society of Industries (SNI), Jesús Salazarargued that although the president is right to mention that employment has recovered to pre-pandemic levels, what he does not say is that “people’s income has fallen 12%.”
“I ask the president if he knows that labor informality continues to grow. In addition, he spoke that poverty has fallen last year (it went from 30.1% in 2020 to 25.9% in 2021), but he did not say that we have not yet recovered the figures of 2019 (20.2%)”, he added.
The representatives of both unions noted that in terms of employment, the negative impact that regulations such as the change in labor outsourcing or the modifications to the regulations of the Law of Collective Labor Relations, which massify and encourage strikes, would have.
MINING INVESTMENT
Castillo’s call to national and international investors to make disbursements in Peru was also not well received, since for both Pérez and Salazar it is contradictory because the guarantees are not given. And an example of this would be mining.
For Carlos Gálvez, member of the Advisory Council of the National Society of Mining, Oil and Energy (SNMPE)there is no support for the mining sector, despite the fact that the head of state said so during his speech.
“Mining is not supported. The figures given by the president are known, but there is no impetus for investment or the conditions for them to start new projects in the sector”, he commented.
In the same way, he affirmed that an example that there is no support for the sector are the operations that were paralyzed by conflicts such as that of Las Bambas, “where the Government is not capable of solving anything that happens.”
“There are many projects in the mining sector, but the State is not committed. Peru has the capacity to double copper production, but the problem is that there is no support from the government”, he maintained.
FERTILIZERS AND AGRO
Another guild that was not convinced by the words of the head of state was the agrarian. The executive director of the Association of Agricultural Producers Guilds of Peru (AGAP), Gabriel Amarospecified that when the arrival of fertilizers in August is mentioned, it is not taking into account that “since last year we have been warning of the shortage.”
“For the president, it is a great achievement that it comes in August, when there are two processes for the acquisition that were canceled and the third was observed by the Comptroller,” he said, adding that what is imported will only be enough for 20% of farmers. that need it, “and also they will only bring urea when some crops need more than one fertilizer”.
To this is added that the president did not specify when in August the urea would arrive and that this could pose a problem for the planting of thousands of producers. This is because distributing it would involve logistical work that could escape the hands of the Executive and take weeks or even two months, thus reaching the producers even in October, when the campaign is about to end. Time is running out.
Data:
-The president of the Peruvian SME National Association, Ana María Choquehuanca, regretted that in the message they only dedicated a few lines to her sector.
-“It is inconceivable that of the 86 pages, less than one is for SMEs. We are going to continue working, fighting. We do not want him to turn the other cheek, but to get to work, ”she stressed.
-Castillo also mentioned that private investment this year would reach a level equal to last year. That is, it would be 0%.
