AFP withdrawal would have negative repercussions in the midst of an emergency

Withdrawal of funds from AFP continues to be discussed despite warnings Ministry of Economy and Finance (MEF) which warns that the possible approval of the measure will lead to negative consequences, especially in the context of a national emergency.

“Because the MEF ruled on this matter, not only the Ministry of Economy, but also the SBS, BCR and the Monetary Fund, none of these institutions recommended the withdrawal of the AFP because of the impact it has not only in the short term. in the future, but also in the future. in the long term. In an emergency, this also has negative consequences, the MEF has already made a decision on this matter,” said the head of the MEF, Alex Contreras, during a press conference.

Contreras added that the measure that Congress needs to evaluate now is additional credit at the request of the executive branch, in order to be able to continue providing assistance in an emergency.

“At this point, it is very important to us as MEF that the Legislature can once and for all approve this additional loan of SGD 8,232 million, of which SGD 3,500 will go into a contingency reserve to continue funding measures. “, He said.

How are emergency measures funded?

The head of the MEF said that in order to fulfill emergencies They allocated SGD 209 million for landslide control, this amount was obtained by reallocating the budgets of some ministries to other functions.

“Right now we have taken resources from the MTS, Housing and other ministries to provide assistance in an emergency, and ideally, if the country has saved, we have resources that count, use these resources and buy more equipment, more tractors, more Resourcesmore housing bonds that allow the population to get out of this crisis,” he explained.

During the conference, the minister noted that Peru started 2023 with one of the lowest inventories in 14 years.

“This year has been very challenging because we started with one of the lowest inventories in 14 years, so what we did as MEF, that S$209 million was funded by resources that IEF It is brought in from other sectors precisely because the emergency cannot wait and because we believe that the budget committee will be able to plan this additional loan bill in the plenary meeting,” he commented.

Contreras reiterated that when the additional loan is approved, we will have more resources and that now “the next step is to spend. There will be a permanent team at Piura, Tumbes and Lambaek to support and avoid any inconvenience.”

The Minister added that so far we have not had the need get into debt no bond issuance, because we had savings from last year, and given the likelihood that the crisis will worsen and increase spending, we could use the Stabilization Budget Fund.