After the UCCAEP in Costa Rica began to negotiate the lifting of the blockades with the self-proclaimed group Rescate Nacional, promoter of the protests, several business chambers distanced themselves from that decision and others have expressed their support.
Given the wave of protests and blockades that have been reported in the country, which arose after it was reported that to access a loan from the International Monetary Fund for $1.75 billion, the government planned to tax financial transactions, raise the tax on the profits of companies and persons, and increase the tax on real estate. The Costa Rican Union of Chambers and Associations of the Private Business Sector (UCCAEP) decided to negotiate the lifting of the blockades.
Faced with increasing chaos in Costa Rica due to demonstrations and blockades, a part of the business sector decided, unilaterally, to negotiate with representatives of the movement that incites to protest, and to reject the official call by the President of the Republic.
For El Salvador's business sector, the constitutional crisis triggered by President Nayib Bukele's actions on February 9 was unnecessary and dangerous because of the "abusive use of force with a provocative message."
In order to pressure the deputies to approve a $109 million loan, which will serve to finance Phase III of the Territorial Control Plan, the president of the country decided to take over the facilities of the Legislative Assembly through the army.
The Andean Development Corporation approved a $500 million loan to the government of Costa Rica, which will be used to "achieve fiscal sustainability in the short and medium term.”
The Andean Development Corporation (CAF) reported that these resources will be used to obtain the benefits generated by the implementation of the Law to Strengthen Public Finances and Costa Rica's access to international markets.
Within the framework of the political and economic crisis that has limited access to international loans, Nicaragua's National Assembly approved a $100 million loan with a Taiwanese bank, at the request of the Ortega administration.
After U.S. President Donald Trump signed a law known as the "Nica Act" in December 2018, which limits Nicaragua's access to international loans, Daniel Ortega's government has been forced to seek new sources of financing.
Explained by obligations with national creditors, between December 2017 and March 2018, the debt increased from $6.487 billion to $6.727 billion, registering an increase of 3.7%.
The Central Bank of Nicaragua reported that as of March 2018 "... Nicaragua's public debt totaled 6.7274 billion dollars, of which 5.6032 billion correspond to public external debt and 1.1242 billion to the debt of the Central Government and the BCN with the national private sector. Public debt increased by 3.7 percent compared to December 2017, mainly associated with an increase in debt with national creditors (US $183.6 million); debt with external creditors registered an increase of 57.2 million dollars."
El Salvador's Congress approved an IDB loan of $350 million to finance the government budget deficit at a 3.25% rate.
The president of the Legislative Assembly, Norman Quijano, stated that " ..." with the conditions offered by the IDB we will have an interest rate estimated at 3.25%, with the bonds we had an average rate of 7 and 8%, the reduction of interests will mean a saving of tens of millions of dollars for the country.' "
In Costa Rica bureaucratic process and the slow pace of legislative approval for loans for infrastructure are key factors in the terrible record for execution of projects.
According to officials from the Ministry of Finance the slow implementation of projects financed by international organizations is due to "bureaucracy related to external credit authorizations and the time the project spends in the Legislature, pending approval," noted an article in Nación.com.
The next government will have to run most of the loans that have been approved by Congress and which are currently being processed.
According to the congressman, Siany Villalobos, "loan projects are moving along an established route of processing which exists in the country. One such example is road works, which must go through a process of expropriations" reported Prensalibre.cr.
Interest and fees are paid for $781 million in outstanding loans, of which only $41 million have been used, 5% of the total.
The country pays interest and fees for a total of nine loans that have hardly been used. "Up until August, the Government paid a total of $3.8 million in commitment fees and interest on loans that were first implemented in the last four years ...", reported Nacion.com.
The World Bank and the Government of Panama have signed off on a $100 million loan to improve the country's fiscal management and increase the efficiency of social protection programs.
From a press release published by the World Bank (WB):
The World Bank and the Government of Panama signed off on Wednesday on a loan agreement for $100 million to support the country's efforts to improve fiscal management and to increase efficiency in the social protection programs "Universal Scholarship", "100 to 70 "and" Network of Opportunities ", which together benefit over 925,000 Panamanians.
If Congress does not approve loans which enable funding of the state budget, the crisis could be severe.
Roberto Villate, head of the Lider back bench group, said that as a block, they do not support the loan approval because from the beginning they did not agree to an underfunded budget and one without any programatic basis. The official said that with each loan "the country takes one more step in the direction of Greece or Cyprus".
The IADB loan to Guatemala for the purpose of "generating more tax revenue" is another example of the current inflation of funding promoted by international bureaucracy to pay the salaries of national bureaucracies.
EDITORIAL
An article by Jose Raul Gonzales in the blog of Guatemala's economic think tank CIEN, reveals one of the many cases in which international financial organizations, supposedly created to help nations develop, engage in financing consulting activities, which end up being just expenses instead of financing real economic sectors.
The IDB, CABEI, and the World Bank top the list of the seven financial institutions that together have pledged a total of $3.189 billion in loans for the development of public works.
The amount still available in the Honduran loan portfolio for external funding is $1.254 billion. The total amount of loans approved is $3.189 billion.
"From January 1st to February 17th, 2012, disbursements amounted to $45.7 million", reports Elheraldo.hn.
This is a record in the history of the country, representing an almost 80% increase compared to expenditures in 2010 and three times the average of the last five years.
A press release from the Inter-American Development Bank reads:
Honduras received from the Inter American Development Bank (IDB) in 2011 about U.S. $300 million in disbursements, of which about U.S.