EsSalud requests debt ceiling of US$50mn

Peru's public health agency EsSalud has requested authorization from the country's finance ministry MEF to extend the agency's debt ceiling to US$50mn, local daily Editora Peru reported. The request forms part of EsSalud's recent policy to replace the agency's current stock of outdated medical equipment and to ensure the purchase of up-to-date specialized medical apparatus for local hospitals, EsSalud's executive president Jose Luis Chirinos was quoted as saying. EsSalud is preparing to trim its management structure as part of the agency's latest cost-cutting plans, local daily Expreso quoted Chirinos as saying last month. According to Chirinos, proposed reforms to the agency's administrative system will result in a saving of 85mn soles (US$24.4mn) through the elimination of 450 managerial posts by end-October. The first phase of the staff cuts began some weeks ago when 166 employees left their posts at the agency's HQ, he added.