The productive sector has indicated that the savings generated by the reduction in the price of oil should be applied to energy tariffs.
Although this proposal is gaining strength in the context of falling oil prices, the private sector and had actually raised the idea last year. It is expected that later this month it will be once again taken to the Bureau of Energy Sector in order to cover the $ 202 million in debt generated from loans for the subsidy, and to conduct a review of the electricity tariff.
Nicaraguan businessmen are complaining that the procedures that must be undertaken by travelers when entering and leaving the country are excessive and are affecting the image of Nicaragua as a tourist destination.
The business sector claims that in the tourist season excessive formalities have to be completed at the international airport in Managua which cause delays and discomfort to tourists.
Textile companies operating in free zones are preparing adjustments such as reductions in production lines in order adapt supplies in the event of the loss of tariff preference level, or TPL.
Although the timeframe for the expiration of the Tarriff Preference Level system with the United States is December 31, several companies are already starting to take steps to adjust their production in anticipation of the agreement not being renewed.
With the reform to the law on Tax Concentration non-resident investors in the country will have to pay 15% instead of 10% on income earned from capital.
According to Juan Sebastian Chamorro, executive director of the Nicaraguan Foundation for Economic and Social Development, the new reform "... is a positive thing for the country because it will generate an increase in the collection of such taxes but is a negative blow to natural and legal non residents because the Revenue Department will no longer deduct 10% on capital transfers, but rather 15 %. "
The Under Secretary of Commerce in the United States sees no need for renewal of preferential tariff arrangements, which up to now have favored Nicaragua's textile industry.
Statements by the senior official of the Obama administration fell like a bucket of cold water over textile entrepreneurs, who claim that without the renewal of TPL, production costs will increase by up to 40%.
Nicaraguan businessmen have proposed that Central America as a whole operates a preferential tariff treatment in the US for imports of textiles in the region.
After trying to negotiate, through several formats, tariff preference levels (TPL), so far unsuccessfully, textile entrepreneurs are now appealing to the union of the region to address the issue with the US once again.
With the consent of the private sector, the government has announced that it will remove from the Tax Coalition Law the article which establishes an end to exemptions on December 31st this year.
The executive Power will this week present the law reform to the National Assembly, and it is expected that it will be approved before the end of the current legislative period.
For the private sector work stoppages at the ports of Limon in Costa Rica, have reaffirmed the urgent need for the country to build a port terminal in the Caribbean.
Costa Rican ports move the majority of cargo from international trade from Nicaragua, therefore abnormalities in the terminal operations affect the transit of Nicaraguan goods, because of the lack of a port on the Caribbean coast.
In the view of entrepreneurs it is not enough to change the energy mix towards the renewable sources and they are proposing a long term strategy in order to compete in the region.
A proposal to create a long-term policy between business and government "..." where the private sector makes a commitment to invest in renewable energy and this energy somehow, goes to those great industries that generate employment in the country, such as the free zone ', said César Zamora, country manager of the energy company IC Power .
The private sector in Nicaragua is opposed to the bill which intends to regulate the prices of 8 of the 53 products in the basic food basket.
The bill introduced in the Assembly intends to implement measures similar to those applied in Panama since July by the Varela administration, which have distorted the production and marketing of the products it covers, according to entrepreneurs from that country.
Local financial groups are interested in negotiating with the U.S. company in order to acquire the consumer banking operation in Nicaragua.
The consumer banking business that will be left behind by Citigroup could return to the hands of Central American companies, as some have expressed interest in acquiring the operation in Nicaragua, although it is not yet known who the interested parties are.
It is believed that in order to feed the 50,000 workers that will be required for the work there is enough meat available, but a shortage of rice and vegetables.
In the meeting held by the Superior Council of Private Enterprise (COSEP) and the Union of Agricultural Producers of Nicaragua delegates from the company HKND, discussed the issue of the country's capacity to provide food for the 50,000 workers needed to complete the work.
The government is working on a tender for improvement projects on three domestic routes so that work can start later this year.
The Superior Council of Private Enterprise (Cosep) reported that "... projects include improving the section between Malpaisillo and Villa 15 de Julio, between Leon and Chinandega, another between Rio Blanco and Mulukukú and a third which is already under development between Nagarote and Malpaisillo. "
Although there are cases still pending, the resolution of 52 claims made by 28 Americans is the reason that the country has been granted with a Property waiver until July 2015.
The United States Embassy in Nicaragua reported that "... from July 2013 to July 2014, 52 cases related to 28 American citizens were resolved, and that despite the progress achieved, there are still 154 property claims by American citizens pending. "
The amendment to the Law on Tax Coalition which the government is discussing would keep exemptions on the purchase of materials for the sector and contemplates changes to exemptions in the tourism sector.
With the proposed reform agricultural activities would continue to enjoy the exemption from selective consumption tax (ISC), value added tax (VAT) and the tariff on imports (DAI) for the purchase of machinery and other materials needed for the activity.