On Friday Tania Quispe, head of the Sunat (Peru’s tax administration agency), expressed concern over the suspension of mining projects in the country.

Quispe said the suspension of projects could considerably reduce tax collection in the country.

"It will affect revenue collection if projects are stalled. We at the Sunat are dependent on the export sector, and mining is one of the most important,” she said to local radio RPP.

However, Quispe said that mining taxes and royalties were not included in the Sunat’s projected 16 percent tax charge, Peru21.

The Sunat, Quispe added, was also currently working to prevent tax evasion carried out by illegal mining.

Last March the agency said illegal mining was costing the Peruvian government 500 million soles in lost taxes, in Madre de Dios.

The Sunat estimated unpaid taxes in the illegal mining trade represented about 0.1 percent of the country’s GDP, and said Madre de Dios accounted for about 85 percent of the country’s illegal mining industry.

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