LatinNews Daily - 21 December 2021

* Costa Rica’s finance ministry has released new figures which show the country’s fiscal deficit to October was ¢1.66trn (US$2.6bn), representing 4.29% of GDP, the lowest of the last three years. This compares with ¢2.69trn registered at the same point in 2020, which was equivalent to 7.43% of GDP. As of November 2021, public debt was ¢27.1trn (69.91% of GDP). The finance ministry said that these results were within the government’s fiscal adjustment objectives. However, it underlined that these need to “take hold” in the medium and long term for which it said it was necessary to approve initiatives in line with the agenda agreed with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) with which the country has a US$1.78bn financial arrangement which the legislature approved in July. These include a public employment bill introducing a single pay scale and eliminating other salary components. The finance ministry also highlighted that interest payments on debt reached ¢1.73trn (4.45% of GDP) – the highest of the last 15 years. Last year, following the arrival of the coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic, Costa Rica posted a fiscal deficit of 8.1% of GDP, and a public debt of 67.5% of GDP.

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