In Peru, the country of gastronomic success, 1,922,000 citizens receive monthly income below 251 soles (67.8 dollars) per month. With these assets they must eat and pay for their most essential needs. There are 249,000 more than in 2022 and 991,000 more than in 2019, according to the report on the evolution of monetary poverty from the National Institute of Statistics and Informatics (INEI). They are considered in the category of extreme poverty, which increased from 5% in 2022 to 5.7% in 2023. Alarming figures that show a decline not only in relation to the previous year, but also to the health crisis of 2020 due to covid -19, year in which the Peruvian population had 5.1% extremely poor.
In general terms, the official poverty figure in the country governed by Dina Boluarte rose by one and a half percentage points: it went from 27.5% in 2022 to 29% in 2023. That is, it is estimated that 9,780,000 Peruvians did not have the minimum economic income to cover the basic consumer basket during the past year. This is 3.2 million more people compared to 2019, the pre-pandemic year, which registered 20.2%.
As happened in the world, the health emergency had a profound impact on pockets. Since 2021, Peru has recorded three consecutive years where monetary poverty has only worsened. The study reveals that the Andean country is 1.1 percentage point away from matching the context of the pandemic, where three out of ten Peruvians lived in poverty.
The value of the total poverty line for 2023 is 446 soles (120.5 dollars). The Peruvian who receives income above this amount to satisfy his food and non-food needs is not considered poor. The same thing happens with extreme poverty: the basket increased by 11%, going from 226 soles (61 dollars) to 251 soles (67.8 dollars). Along these lines, the document also shows an increase in rural extreme poverty from 14.6% to 16.2%, while in the urban area it went from 2.6% to 3.2%.
The publication of the INEI annual report was marred by a suspension that the institution later retracted. Initially, the presentation of the document was agreed for this Wednesday. However, at night, the INEI issued a statement announcing that the disclosure would only be made next week due to “force majeure reasons.” Some media outlets, such as Canal N, reported that the sudden suspension was due to an express order from the presidential office to delay “bad news.” More so in days where President Dina Boluarte is accused of having been absent for two weeks to undergo cosmetic surgeries.
The Executive tried to carry out crisis control with a statement in which it “categorically rules out that the Government has the intention of modifying any figure, as has been referenced in an irresponsible manner.” In addition, they pointed out that the INEI is a “specialized and independent technical entity.” After the wave of criticism, only at nine in the morning this Thursday, 13 hours after the suspension, the institution issued a second statement to inform that they would disseminate the results of monetary poverty during 2023. There was no public presentation, as It is customary every year, and the authorities only posted the report on the web.
David Tuesta, former Minister of Economy and Finance, estimates that returning to the poverty rate of 20%, as before the pandemic, will take the country 20 years, since the growth projection between 2024 and 2028 is 3% annually. . “Please, do not be fooled by the politician who comes out and says that distributing bonuses will solve the problem of poverty. Our problem is the continuous loss of productivity due to bad congressmen and bad governments,” he explained.
For her part, Carolina Trivelli, principal researcher at the Institute of Peruvian Studies, highlighted that the great concern is that this sector of the population “uses everything at its disposal and despite the aid and what it earns, it is not enough to eat.” ”. In addition, she insisted on trying to establish a strategy that is capable of reversing the situation of almost 10 million Peruvians. “With this we are going very far behind, we have lost more than 15 years and it probably would not be the same period that it will take us to recover,” he concluded on Canal N. Meanwhile, Dina Boluarte, who, according to the Prime Minister, Gustavo Adrianzén, is recovering from a “severe lung condition,” he has not spoken to the press for a month.
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