Análisis del proceso de descentralización fiscal en el Perú

Abstract

Peru is experiencing a deep political and fiscal decentralization process, especially since 2002. The newly created regional governments now share power and resources with the existing municipal governments as well as with the national or central government. The national government has transferred important responsibilities and fiscal resources to regional governments and also has reinforced local governments’ budgets. Both levels of subnacional governments have doubled their budget revenues in only five years. However, they are mostly financed by national government transfers instead of own collected taxes. This study analyzes in detail the functions as well as the fiscal resources of subnational governments in Peru. Based on this analysis, a set of proposals to increase direct income sources for both levels of government are discussed.