In this scenario of economic crisis, the Ministry of Labor has extended for the fourth time and for 30 more days, the provision that allows companies in the country to suspend the contracts of their employees.
Executive Decree No. 100 of July 1, 2020 authorized a further extension of the temporary suspension of the effects of employment contracts, which will apply automatically for a period of 30 calendar days in companies whose operations have not been reactivated according to the plans for a gradual return to economic activity, reported the Labor Ministry.
A law was published in the Official Journal establishing a moratorium on loans granted by banks, cooperatives and finance companies, both public and private, until December 31, 2020, for natural and legal persons affected by the pandemic.
The law promulgated on July 1 in the Official Journal, states that the benefits of the moratorium will be available to persons whose employment contract has been suspended or terminated, independent workers and traders whose activity has been affected by the health measures applied by covid-19.
A guideline was issued prohibiting the planting of pineapple, banana, rice, grasses, oil palm and other monocultures in forest reserves, buffer zones, national parks, biological reserves, national wildlife refuges, wetlands and natural monuments.
According to Directive No. 0006-2020 of June 26 issued by the Ministry of Environment and Energy (Minae), it exempts forestry plantations from the prohibitions contained in the document.
After President Cortizo partially banned the moratorium bill, the National Assembly discussed the initiative in a second debate, which was unnecessary for the Superintendent of Banks, who said that the banks had already implemented the necessary measures.
Despite the fact that on May 4 President Laurentino Cortizo and the representative of the Panamanian Banking Association, Aimee de Grimaldo, signed an agreement to extend the moratorium until December 31, 2020 due to the economic crisis caused by covid-19, the deputies declared themselves in permanent session to discuss the moratorium project (already banned by the president) in second debate in extraordinary sessions from June 15 to 18.
After power outages were banned, Energuate notified generators that there is a possibility of not paying for all the power they have provided so far.
Weeks ago, Congress approved and published Decree 15-2020, which prohibits cuts in water, electricity, cable TV, telephone and Internet services during the state of calamity and its possible extensions, and which came into effect following the outbreak of covid-19 in the country.
In Guatemala, a legislative project prohibiting cuts in water, electricity, cable TV, telephone and Internet services during the state of calamity, which was decreed by the outbreak of covid-19 in the country, was published.
After multiple struggles, Decree 15-2020 was published on May 21 in the Diario de Centroamérica, which was approved by the deputies and then vetoed by President Alejandro Giammattei.
Although the President of El Salvador seeks to maintain absolute quarantine, the Legislative Assembly of that country approved a law that establishes the measures that will be applied to gradually resume labor and economic activity, in both the public and private sectors.
The approval of this legal framework, which establishes four phases for the reactivation of the economy, takes place in the context of strong tensions between the Executive and the Legislative, who have had different criteria regarding the home quarantine, to which the population was subjected due to the outbreak of covid-19.
In order to reactivate economic activity in Panama, Ministry of Health authorities issued strict compliance guidelines for companies and workers.
The guide is aimed at producers, distributors, and consumers; microenterprises, medium-size companies, large companies, and their clients, who are required to comply with the standards established by the health authorities in order to mitigate the expansion of covid-19, the official document details.
In Panama, the Assembly approved in third debate a bill that seeks to force banks to consolidate customers' debts, regardless of their credit history.
According to Article 4 of the approved law, "... all credit obligations that the debtor has, regardless of the risk category or default status that these obligations register in the credit history of the interested party, are subject to debt consolidation."
The Assembly approved in third reading a bill that suspends for a 120-day period all launches and evictions of private real estate intended for housing, commercial establishments, professional use, industrial and educational activities.
The plenary session of the National Assembly, supporting the state of emergency as a result of the effects generated by the infectious disease covid-19, approved in the third debate the draft law 299, by which measures on the leasing of real estate are dictated, informed the institution.
While the health emergency lasts in El Salvador, online purchases made by individuals from U.S. companies, which do not exceed $200, will not pay taxes.
In response to the outbreak of covid-19 in the country, the Law on Facilitation of Online Purchases was issued, which allows for the promotion and facilitation of the import of goods or merchandise of a non-commercial nature, i.e.
Following the state of calamity in the country, the Ministry of Labor created an electronic procedure, through which companies can temporarily suspend the contracts of their workers.
Ministerial Agreement 140-2020, published on April 7 in the Official Journal, explains that the government measure is temporary and exclusively applicable as long as the circumstances and effects of the covid-19 pandemic, which has been declared worldwide, and its effects on employment contracts persist.
In the third debate, the National Assembly approved a bill that grants debtors a 90-day extension of time for payment of credits granted by banking, cooperative and financial institutions.
According to the law that must be sanctioned or banned by President Cortizo, once the term of the moratorium set forth in this law has expired, creditors, in common agreement with the debtor, must agree on the conditions for the unpaid debt to be prorated, to be paid within 24 months.
In the third debate, the National Assembly approved the bill that considers the suspension of charges for electricity, fixed and mobile telephony and Internet services for four months.
This benefit will be available to self-employed workers, micro and small businesses, which have been affected in their income, as well as owners of restaurants, bars, casinos, public and private transport, affected by the pandemic, reported the Assembly.
Costa Rican businessmen support a bill that seeks to modify or suspend payment methods and other contractual conditions of leases in cases of force majeure, such as the current health emergency.
In the context of the propagation of covid-19, the Costa Rican Chamber of Commerce (CCCR) sees with total positivism the plan of relief in the leases, as much for the families, as for the commercial activity, proposal made by the deputy Pedro Muñoz in the Project, file No. 21.851, reason why we requested to be convoked in extraordinary sessions for its discussion.