The investment plan announced by the government is over $19 billion in road works, sanitation and electricity distribution and will support sectors such as logistics, transportation, tourism and agriculture.
From a statement issued by the Ministry of Economy and Finance in Panama (MEF):
The Government Strategic Plan 2015-2019, contemplates a public investment program of around $19.5 billion.
The union of industrialists states that the government's five-year plan lacks any definition of concrete actions which would allow it to bring about anticipated results.
From a statement issued by the Salvadoran Association of Industrialists (ASI):
In the view of industrialists it is a document which contains some important evaluations and defines priorities for government issues, but it lacks a concrete action plan to provide solutions to the serious problems we Salvadorans are facing, especially with regard to violence, stagnation of the economy and lack of jobs.
Modernization of production systems and the launch of an electronic traceability system are part of the initiatives being taken by the Government to revive the sector.
The Government of Guatemala has presented guidelines of the policy it intends to implement to encourage the development of farming in the country.
One of the "pillars" of the policy is the modernization of the production system, "...
The initiative for a National Strategy for Employment and Production created by the new Solís administration shows that there is still a belief that public officials know how to produce wealth.
EDITORIAL
The Costa Rica entrepreneurs' opinion is convincing: the Union of Chambers states that "employment is not generated by decree, but through policies which improve the business climate" ...
The absence of a long-term waste management policy is preventing the ability to take advantage of a sector which could generate significant business opportunities.
An Editorial on Nacion.com notes that "...The reasons for this lethargy, in the face of a problem that is about to overwhelm us and could be an important source of income, range from financing to lack of technological alternatives.
There are concerns related to lack of definition in key areas and the Solis administration's true implementation capacity is being questioned.
The guild of private companies has also criticized the fact that they were not included in the development of the employment strategy to be presented in the next few days by President Solis.
For example, on the subject of electricity tariffs, Mario Montero, vice president of the Costa Rican Chamber of the Food Industry (Cacia), told Crhoy.com that "... 'there are now too many diagnoses and there are issues where political calculations should be left out of the picture, and the industry wants to participate in working groups' ... 'inaction is choking us and postponing decisions for 18 or 24 months is not acceptable.' "
The union has denounced the absence of a long-term policy to organise production and help the fight against the pests and smuggling which are hurting the sector.
The recent plague of the salivosa insect, which caused an emergency phytosanitary status to be declared, the increased smuggling of beef on the border with Mexico and the lack of actual figures related to the sector, are the main arguments put forward by the livestock sector when demanding that the government implement a policy of long-term development for the sector.
The Economic Situation report by FUSADES notes that the growth of the Salvadoran economy in the last 5 years has averaged 0.8%.
From a statement issued by the Salvadoran Foundation for Economic and Social Development (FUSADES):
During the last five years (2009-2013), the economy has deteriorated in terms of growth and macroeconomic stability. In the first quarter 2014 performance continued to weaken, showing a clear need for a national agreement which creates the conditions of stability and growth required to tap the potential of Salvadorans.
The business sector is proposing the creation of a government entity focusing on the long term development of logistics activities in the country.
Adopting logistics as a matter of state and implementing a long term national logistics strategy that takes into account all of the productive sectors involved is the proposal of the business sector to the incoming government.
President Juan Orlando Hernández has completed his first 100 days in office with an executive style that is vastly different.
The article Elheraldo.hn reports that several sectors have felt, "an unprecedented economic and social change" since Juan Orlando Hernández took office as president.
" ... During this time the Nationalist government has implemented strong measures on security, employment, health, education, finance, tourism and development, which has marked a full agenda that involves an economic and social re-boot for the nation. "
Substitutions are to be made to the guidelines of the previous policy developed in 2010, with the aim of making tourism a national priority.
From a statement issued by the Ministry of Tourism of El Salvador (MITUR):
The Tourism Policy which was presented this morning aims to position tourism as a national priority based on its potential to contribute to solving the major challenges facing the country.
"Murillo and Ortega together are forging a level of control that political observers say holds echoes of the sort of family dynasty that the Sandinista Front once took up arms to topple."
"Dynasty," is how the U.S. Newspaper Kansas City describes the government of Daniel Ortega and in which it discusses the influential role played by his wife Rosario Murillo in every government decision.
While Nicaragua and Panama have sustainable levels of public debt, for El Salvador, Honduras and Costa Rica the prognosis is "reserved" .
Recent analysis by the Central American Institute for Fiscal Studies (Icefi) reflects very different fiscal situations in each country.
An article in Prensalibre.com states that "data from the report indicates that the country with the greatest debt is El Salvador, as in 2011 it reached 50% of GDP, in 2012 it increased to 52% and it is expected to reach about 54% in 2013.
Public debt has grown rapidly from $2 billion in 1998 to $13 billion in 2013.
This was explained by the president of the Bank of Guatemala, Edgar Barquín, who recommends establishing a debt policy in the country. "In the draft budget for 2014, the amount of debt accumulated by Guatemala will reach $14 billion," reported Prensalibre.com.
"We are reaching a position in which the debt ratio must be studied," says Barquín.