The country's chicken producers estimate that they will close 2020 with a 1.3% decrease in sales, a drop that would be explained by the drop in orders from hotels and restaurants, establishments that operate partially due to the low presence of tourists.
The spread of covid-19 caused considerable damage to the tourism and restaurant sector, since the country's air connection was interrupted and up to now few tourists remain there.
Between May and June of this year, the average lending rate of commercial banks has fallen from 11.52% to 10.28%, a drop that is explained by the high level of liquidity of the banks and the low placement of credits.
The pandemic that caused the outbreak of covid-19 has hit the financial system, since due to the current market conditions, the active rates have come down between the months of May and July.
Because of the tension between the productive sector and the government, coupled with the lack of official statistics from the Central Bank, some companies in Nicaragua have chosen to stop providing information to the authorities.
In an attempt to hide the complicated economic situation, the country is going through, local authorities have not published information on the Monthly Economic Activity Index since February 2019, when the year-on-year drop was 7.5%. This prevents businessmen from making decisions based on the real situation of the economy.
The prices of construction materials in Nicaragua have reported increases in recent months, but because of the crisis in which the country finds itself, businessmen have chosen to assume these costs and not pass them on to customers.
Since the beginning of the political crisis in the country, several banks have decided to close some of their service centers, and only during the first half of 2019 have 56 branches been reported closed.
In April 2018, the country plunged into a political crisis that has dragged the economy into recession. As a result of this problem, official figures indicate that 49 bank branches were closed last year and 56 more were closed between January and June 2019.
Although the goal for this year was to issue $100 million in debt bonds, during the first quarter the Nicaraguan government only awarded $1.1 million, doubting the level of investor confidence.
According to the "Public Debt Report, First Quarter 2019", prepared by the Central Bank of Nicaragua, from January to March regarding Investment Securities in dollars, 1.03 million was issued at an average rate of 5.31% and an average term of 7 months.
Businessmen in the sector estimate that local chicken meat production has contracted between 6% and 8% since the crisis began in April last year.
Data from the Central Bank of Nicaragua detail that during 2018 the industrial production of chicken meat totaled 298 million pounds. In the case of production reported for this year, directors of the National Association of Poultry Producers and Food Producers (Anapa) explain that in the first five months of 2019 there was a 6% decrease in the volume produced, compared to the same period in 2018.
Explained by the political and economic crisis that Nicaragua is going through, in the first quarter of the year imports of vehicles in the country fell 65%, so that companies survive on the business of workshops.
The "Foreign Trade" report prepared by the Central Bank of Nicaragua (BCN), states that in the first four months of the year imports of transport equipment reached $42 million, a figure that is 65% lower than that recorded from January to April 2018.
Despite Nicaragua's political and economic crisis, tobacco exports in 2018 totaled $222 million, 10% more than in 2017.
Statistics from the Central Bank of Nicaragua (BCN) show that between 2017 and 2018 sales abroad under the free trade zone regime increased by $20 million, from $202 million to $222 million.
From January to November 2018, imports of household appliances in Nicaragua totaled $106 million, 35% less than reported in the same period of the previous year.
Between the first eleven months of 2017 and the same period in 2018, foreign purchases of household appliances fell from $164 million to $106 million, according to the most current figures from the Central Bank of Nicaragua.
If the country does not provide an early solution to the socio-political crisis it has been going through since April 2018, it is projected that the economy could decline between 7% and 11% during 2019.
The Nicaraguan Foundation for Economic and Social Development (Funides), presented the "Informe de Coyuntura" (Situation Report), which explains that if the socio-political crisis continues this year there will be a greater fall in the economy compared to the 4% reported in 2018.
A 40% decline is estimated in the construction of social housing investments in the country, and in the case of middle and upper-class housing, the contraction reaches 70%.
According to figures from the Superior Council of Private Enterprise (Cosep), the value added in the construction sector will register a 25% decline, falling from $399 million in 2017 to $300 million in 2018.
After the political and social crisis that began in April, the Nicaraguan economy will lose more than $1.3 billion this year, and GDP could decline by 4%, together with the collateral effects suffered by the countries of the region.
Several indicators have reflected the weak performance of the country's economy since the crisis began. One of them is the IMAE, as the Central Bank of Nicaragua reported that following the trend that has been observed since May, in September the index reported a 4.3% decrease compared to the same month in 2017.
At the end of 2017 and beginning of 2018, touristic companies in Nicaragua were reporting a good performance, but the political situation in the country has generated a crisis that is still unsolved.
In 2017, tourism generated $840 million in revenue for the Nicaraguan economy, 31% more than in 2016, growth that improved the companies' expectations at the beginning of the year, since in the first quarter of 2018 the forecasts were that by the end of this year revenues could reach $900 million.
The decline in economic activity is the reason for the year-on-year decline of 36% reported in the capital goods imports up to August this year.
According to figures from the Central Bank of Nicaragua (BCN), between August 2017 and the same month of this year, imports of capital goods registered a fall of 35.8%, declining from $107 million to $69 million.