Message from HE JORGE FÉLIX RUBIO CORREA
The Peruvian government declared a national state of emergency on March 15, 2020, at 8:00 PM Peru local time. Under the state of emergency, Peru enacted 15 days of mandatory quarantine, starting at 00:00 on March 16, 2020. Peruvian President Martín Vizcarra announced at 12:22 p.m. on March 26 that Peru will extend its state of national emergency for 13 more days until April 12, 2020. The Government of Peru has closed all international travel in and out of the country and restricted internal domestic travel. Quarantine measures and border closures will continue. On March 17, Jorge Chávez International Airport in Lima closed to the public.
- The Peruvian government issued a decree on March 14 suspending the docking of all cruise ships in Peruvian ports for 30 days.
- On March 13, the Peruvian government issued a decree to suspend all flights to and from Europe and Asia, beginning on March 16, for 30 days.
- On March 12, President Martín Vizcarra announced the suspension of classes at university and vocational educational institutions, following his March 11 announcement suspending primary and secondary school classes through March 30.
Quarantine Information:
- As of 05:00 on Thursday, March 19, the Government of Peru fully implemented its movement restrictions as part of their national quarantine strategy:
- A mandatory daily curfew from 8:00 pm – 05:00 am.
- Inter-regional travel by road has been restricted unless authorized by the Government of Peru.
- Private vehicles are prohibited from driving around Lima.
- Peruvian security services deployed to enforce the national quarantine throughout the country.
- The Quarantine policy severely restricts all movement but some exceptions include:
- Traveling to the supermarket or pharmacy
- Traveling to provide assistance to the elderly or small children
- Traveling to the hospital for emergencies
The Peruvian government is preparing one of the mayor economic plans to mitigate the impact of the coronavirus crisis.
Currently, it will make US $ 25,000 million, equivalent to about 12% of Internal Gross Product (GDP). The first phase will use US $ 8,500 million and the second phase, US $ 8,500 million.
El Peru has built important monetary reserves (US $ 68,044 million) and has open access to multilateral credit resources. Peru’s public debt is 27% of PIB, one of the lowest in Latin America. It also has low inflation and its currency, the sol, is one of the least volatile in the region. For this, international reserves were accumulated. For 3 decades, governments have maintained an unusual fiscal discipline in the economies of Latin America. In previous circumstances, as in the 2008 international financial crisis, the Peruvian economy in 2009 grew close to 1%; and in 2010, 10% despite the global recession. The reactivation will be carried out through greater public investment and the creation of temporary jobs to favor the poorest and most vulnerable as well as to protect small and medium-sized industries. He also recalled that the economic plan prepared by the Government to mitigate the impacts of Covid-19 consists of two parts, the current containment and a second reactivation. This is complemented by the measures of the Superintendency of Banks, Insurance and AFP (SBS), which have to do with the reprogramming of debts and those of the Central Reserve Bank (BCR) to maintain liquidity in the financial system, such as the postponement of the payment of income tax for three months that will benefit 99% of companies and that an eventual granting of powers will allow the development of additional measures to boost the economy.
