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Commitment Complements an Ongoing Partnership Focused on Helping the Peruvian Government Grow its Economy and Deliver Essential Public Services
WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Technical Assistance (OTA) today announced that the United States signed a bilateral arrangement with Peru outlining the terms and priorities of a banking and financial services project that will help Peru develop a national strategy to expand access to financial services for underserved sectors of the population. This is the third arrangement to be signed with the Government of Peru, and signals a transition from OTA’s intermittent work promoting financial inclusion to engagement on a steady, long-term basis. Today’s arrangement will also complement OTA projects already in place in Peru to combat economic crimes and facilitate financing for infrastructure development.
For over 20 years, OTA has partnered with developing country finance ministries and central banks to strengthen their capacity to manage public finances, promote economic growth, and combat economic crimes. OTA engages with governments that are committed to reform and institution building, typically working side-by-side with foreign counterparts over a period of several years. OTA’s capacity building programs complement Treasury’s international economic and threat finance policy work. Currently, OTA operates in 45 countries with 100 active programs.
“Today’s arrangement underscores Treasury’s readiness to support countries that are committed to promoting equitable economic growth that benefits segments of the broad population,” said Deputy Assistant Secretary of Treasury for Technical Assistance Larry McDonald. “This partnership will support the Peruvian government’s effort to reduce poverty and strengthen its economy.”
OTA’s Banking & Financial Services team has partnered with Peru since 2012, working on an intermittent basis with the Superintendent of Banking, Insurance and Private Pension Fund Administrators (SBS) on financial inclusion and electronic reporting and with the Deposit Insurance Fund to strengthen the deposit insurance regime. As part of this new project, an OTA resident advisor will work side-by-side with the SBS to develop a regulatory and supervisory framework for financial products and services; coordinate and integrate Peru’s financial inclusion strategy across public and private sector institutions; and develop a new range of financial products and services to be offered to previously underserved populations.
“For Peru, financial inclusion is an absolute must. It is the cornerstone of our drive to expand the economy as well as to make it more fair,” said the superintendent of SBS Dr. Daniel Schydlowsky. “We appreciate the interest and willingness of the U.S. to work with us on this policy and look forward to our joint work being of benefit and interest for other countries in the Hemisphere as well.”
In addition, OTA signed arrangements in December 2012 and January 2014 to assist the Government of Peru in infrastructure finance development and anti-money laundering/combating the financing of terrorism activities.
For more information about the Treasury Department’s Office of Technical Assistance, click here.
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