Peru waives taxes on essential food items to combat inflation
Reuters
Published Apr 12, 2022 11:01PM ET
LIMA (Reuters) - Peru's congress approved legislation on Tuesday that waives taxes for what it deems as essential foods, aiming to fight surging prices that have hit consumers hard in recent months.
The measure, backed by the government of President Pedro Castillo, is estimated to cost some 3.8 billion soles ($1 billion) in lost revenue.
The tax exemption will last eight months, applied to bread, chicken, sugar and pasta, according to the text of the law.
The final list of items was significantly scaled back following objections from the government that the congress was trying to exempt items, such as beef, that were not truly essential.
Consumer prices leapt 1.48% in March, reaching a level 6.82% higher than a year earlier. The monthly rise was the fastest since 1996.
The central bank does not expect annual inflation to return to its target range of 1% to 3% until early 2023.
Peru has this month seen road blockades as anger has flared over price rises, which have worsened since Russia invaded Ukraine.
Get The News You Want
Written By: Reuters
Trading in financial instruments and/or cryptocurrencies involves high risks including the risk of losing some, or all, of your investment amount, and may not be suitable for all investors. Prices of cryptocurrencies are extremely volatile and may be affected by external factors such as financial, regulatory or political events. Trading on margin increases the financial risks.
Before deciding to trade in financial instrument or cryptocurrencies you should be fully informed of the risks and costs associated with trading the financial markets, carefully consider your investment objectives, level of experience, and risk appetite, and seek professional advice where needed.
Fusion Media would like to remind you that the data contained in this website is not necessarily real-time nor accurate. The data and prices on the website are not necessarily provided by any market or exchange, but may be provided by market makers, and so prices may not be accurate and may differ from the actual price at any given market, meaning prices are indicative and not appropriate for trading purposes. Fusion Media and any provider of the data contained in this website will not accept liability for any loss or damage as a result of your trading, or your reliance on the information contained within this website.
It is prohibited to use, store, reproduce, display, modify, transmit or distribute the data contained in this website without the explicit prior written permission of Fusion Media and/or the data provider. All intellectual property rights are reserved by the providers and/or the exchange providing the data contained in this website.
Fusion Media may be compensated by the advertisers that appear on the website, based on your interaction with the advertisements or advertisers.