The Minister of Economy, Pedro Francke, affirmed on Sunday that according to a report by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) that advises Peru on tax matters, the level of mining taxes stands at an average 41.7%, lower than other countries such as Chile and Canada and that is why it seeks to raise it to finance mainly programs in health and education.
The National Society of Mining, Oil and Energy affirmed that this proposal “irremediably erodes” competitiveness in mining, the engine of the Andean country’s economy.
“We consider that there is ample evidence that the tax burden on mining is currently close to 50% of profits and is higher than that existing in Chile (40.7%), Canada (35.5%) and Australia (44.3%), mining countries with which Peru competes directly, “he said in a statement.
For this, the mining union made reference to studies on the subject of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) and other local private reports.
Castillo’s leftist government wants Congress, dominated by the right-wing opposition, to grant it powers to legislate on a policy before the end of the year. tax reform, mainly in the mining sector currently benefiting from the high international prices of metals.
The mining company said that Peru’s Ministry of Economy has been making “a particular interpretation” of the IMF’s preliminary report, which has not yet been publicly released pending authorization from the agency.
“A bad redesign of the tax scheme will discourage investments in expansions of mines already in operation and in new mining projects. Future investments of more than 50,000 million dollars are jeopardized,” said the mining union.
Since President Castillo came to power in late July with the promise of providing greater benefits to marginalized communities, the sector has faced a wave of protests in Peru amid claims for environmental and social concerns.
Copper strip The Bambas, one of the largest in the country and controlled by the Chinese MMG Ltd, has warned that it would suspend its production this week due to the blockade of a route, amid a protest by residents of the Andean province of Chumbivilcas.
Source From: Ambito
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