LatinNews Daily - 07 September 2023

* Peru’s Prime Minister Alberto Otárola and Finance Minister Alex Contreras have submitted the draft 2024 national budget to congress, outlining proposed spending of PEN241bn (US$65.04bn) – a 12% increase on the 2023 budget, which Otárola said marked the largest annual increase of the past decade. The draft budget has a marked focus on decentralisation, with Contreras saying yesterday that 36% of spending would be delegated to local and regional governments, which he said is “the highest level since decentralisation began”. The finance ministry has highlighted increased social spending, notably on water and sanitation (PEN6.4bn, +7% year-on-year), health (PEN29.47bn, +9%), education (PEN46.50bn, +11%), and social protection (PEN9.31bn, +19%). According to the finance ministry (MEF), proposed spending on emergency response (PEN2.64bn) is the highest in the last 12 years. A large tranche of the budget will also be spent on security (PEN16.21bn), which the government also says is the highest figure in the past 12 years.