LatinNews Daily - 02 September 2026

*Costa Rica’s finance ministry has presented its proposed 2027 state budget for ₡12.42tn (US$27.37bn), down 3.1% on the current budget and equivalent to 22.3% of GDP. The 2027 budget proposal forecasts revenue of ₡7.74tn, leaving ₡4.68tn to be financed through debt. The initiative, which is the first under conservative President Laura Fernández, whose predecessor and mentor Rodrigo Chaves (2022-2026) is now her finance minister and minister for the presidency, is based on projected growth forecasts for 2026 and 2027 of 3.45% and 3.47% respectively while inflation is forecast to close 2026 at 0.50% and 2027 at 2.10%. The proposed budget expects public debt, which represented 60.41% of GDP in 2025 to remain above 60% of GDP. As regards the ministerial breakdown, under the 2027 proposed initiative, education will receive the highest budget allocation of ₡2.75tn, equivalent to 22.2% of the total and 4.9% of GDP, although in real terms this is down 0.7% on the 2026 budget. Health will receive ₡598.08bn, up 48.6% on 2026, while the judiciary, which has fraught relations with the Fernández government, will be assigned ₡530.97bn, down 1.9% on 2026 and the justice ministry will receive ₡219.73bn, a 2.5% drop. Public security would receive ₡350.45bn, a 1.7% drop. Of the total 40.3% will go on servicing debt.

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