* Peru’s President Dina Boluarte has signed off on her cabinet’s proposal for a pension reform bill. The reform proposal, which will now be sent to congress, would establish a minimum monthly pension of PEN600 (US$156) for those registered with private pension administrators (AFPs) and would allow banks and other financial entities to become pension providers in order to increase competition and reduce charges. The country’s economy & finance minister, Alex Contreras, said that the reform “tackles a series of structural problems” in the pension system which he said has meant that 57% of people over the age of 65 do not have a pension and that just 30% of the economically active population is making sufficient pension contributions.