The Peruvian government is preparing a package of incentives to reactivate the national economy, Economy and Finance Minister Luis Miguel Castilla said Friday.
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Peru's Economy Minister Luis Miguel Castilla
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According to Castilla, the measures, which must be approved by congress, include cutting bureaucratic procedures and taxes in various sectors, among others.
"Next week we will probably be approving ... maybe the most important economic incentive package of this administration," Castilla said, adding the measures will first be debated Wednesday by the council of ministers.
The government also plans to launch mining, energy and infrastructure megaprojects around the country to help reactivate the economy, Castilla said.
Economic growth, he said, should improve in the second half of the year and in 2015, thanks to such megaprojects as the continued construction of the Lima Metro system, with an investment of 5.56 billion U.S. dollars, and the construction of the Southern Peruvian Gas Pipeline, with an investment of 4 billion dollars.
The government's announcement was welcomed by the country's business sector, Peru's Andina news agency said.
"It's important that the minister of the Economy ... has come out to announce the measures to convey confidence in the private sector and in this way clear away the uncertainty that is surrounding the economic sphere," Cesar Penaranda, the head of the Lima Chamber of Commerce's Institute of Economy and Business Development, told Andina.
Penaranda also praised the proposed measure for cutting down on red tape. Peru's economy slowed in April after growing 5.2 percent last year./.