Weekly Report - 22 February 2024 (WR-24-07)

Costa Rica’s President Rodrigo Chaves said this week that the economy was in “excellent health” and expressed surprise at “how quickly we have moved from such a terrible state to a state where we can feel much more secure”. Chaves was responding to the release of figures showing that Costa Rica registered a fiscal deficit of 3.3% of GDP in 2023 but, crucially, a primary surplus, excluding interest payments on public debt, of 1.6% of GDP, equivalent to ₡729bn (US$1.4bn).