Velasco says drop in copper prices will not affect 2009 Budget

SANTIAGO.- The Minister of Finance, Andrés Velasco, has emphatically denied that there is a possibility of modifying the 2009 Budget that has been sent to Parliament due to the sharp decline in the price of copper.

"We are not going to reduce expenses because it does not agree with our fiscal policy.  We are cautious when copper prices go up, and we must be consistent when the price of copper goes down", he stated.

Velasco insisted that it is possible to keep the Budget the way it is since, "the price of copper can oscillate, it can go up, it can go down, but experts say that in the long run, over the next ten years, it will be US $1.99 an that is why what we spend will be coherent with those US $1.99".

When asked whether the nation's income would be affected by the plunge in the price of the metal, Velasco pointed out that "the income projection that is most relevant for expenses is that of structural income and that does not change with short-term fluctuations".