The Ministry of Finance has announced the sending to the Legislative Assembly of a bill which eliminates 220 different tax exemptions.
The bill already has the signature of the president, Luis Guillermo Solis, and besides eliminating 220 tax breaks also establishes penalties for those who enjoy them without a right to do so.
Due to a reduction in the volume of cargo handled, the international land transport company GASH has reduced its staff by 65 workers.
The company founded on Costa Rican capital argues that the volume of cargo handled has reduced in the last three months. GASH Transport International SA has been operating in the market for land transport at national and regional level for 60 years, and also has a terminal in Nicaragua.
All of the formal conditions have now been revealed for the operation of the system for granting flexible loans to farmers and entrepreneurs who currently have no access to commercial bank financing.
Hundreds of millions of dollars were left idle because of lack of standards to allow their use in lending to the productive sector.
From a statement issued by the presidency of Costa Rica:
After overcoming several bureaucratic obstacles the grain terminal with capacity to accommodate PostPanamax vessels became operational in the Pacific port of Costa Rica.
From a statement issued by from the Ministry of Public Works and Transportation (MOPT):
The new multipurpose dock at Caldera Port, has now been inaugurated, improving Costa Rica's competitiveness and international trade logistics, in addition to promoting development in the province of Puntarenas.
The private sector claims that $1900 million were approved by previous governments for public infrastructure projects which have not yet been executed by the Solís administration.
The Costa Rican Chamber of Construction (CCC) argues that there are projects pending implementation by the National Roads Authrity and Water and Sewage Department which were already approved under the previous administration that have not been carried out.
Free parking in Panama and heavy trains running through the streets of the capital of Costa Rica, are examples of some of the strange decisions taken by their governments.
EDITORIAL
While the rest of the world discourages the use of private cars as a means of transportation, increasing the costs of their use by setting, among other methods, high costs for parking in urban areas, in Panama, whose capital city suffers like any other city from the growing problems of congestion on the roads, the National Assembly recently passed a law that mandates free parking in "commercial parking lots of any kind or public offices where purchases are made, goods acquired or any services received. "
Southwest Airlines has announced it will be operating a daily flight between the capital of Costa Rica and the cities of Baltimore and Houston starting March and October 2015 respectively.
From a statement issued by the Costa Rican Tourism Institute (ICT):
The US carrier Southwest Airlines is not only backing Costa Rica having select it as the first destination in Central America in which has ventured, (being the first choice for an international flight with the Southwest brand), but has also done so forcefully, with the announcement of two new air routes.
The government has announced the opening of a consulate in Shanghai and other efforts to open others in cities where there is high purchasing power in an effort to attract people to the Costa Rican tourism sector.
From a statement issued by the Government of Costa Rica:
Tourism is one of the axes that form part of the strategic partnership relations between Costa Rica and China, with concrete actions leading to an increase in visits by tourists , the beginning of efforts to establish a direct flight and contact made by tour operators.
Citing the old concepts of food sovereignty, protection is being given to the inefficient production of the few while the consumption capacity of the poorest is punished.
EDITORIAL
As expected, the government of Luis Guillermo Solís has decided to apply the safeguard measure requested by rice farmers, increasing the tax paid on imports of milled rice from 35% to 62%, which in practice only applies to rice bought in Argentina and Uruguay.
The Solis administration has signed a memorandum of understanding with the Chinese government to begin studying the feasibility of setting up a special economic zone in Costa Rica for enterprises from China.
As part of the agreement signed between the two governments, feasibility studies will be started along with defining where the zone will be sited.
President Solis has rejected the possibility of harnessing geothermal energy in national parks describing their exploitation as "unnecessary".
While discussions continue at the national roundtable on energy which will supposedly inform the government and the public of its findings in the month of March, President Solis has already ruled out the use of geothermal energy in protected areas.
The productive sector is asking the Solís government not lift the ban on the labor law allowing the suspension of essential services during worker strikes.
From a statement issued by the Costa Rican Union of Chambers and Associations in the Private Business Sector (UCCAEP):
The Costa Rican Union of Chambers and Associations in the Private Business Sector (UCCAEP) has requested that the President, Luis Guillermo Solís, not lift the ban on the Reform of the Code Labour, record 15,990; on the eve of Saturday December 13, the expiry date of the four-year term for the project.
"There are many ways to define populism, but perhaps the most accurate is that it is a form of social and economic demagogy that sacrifices the future of a country for a fleeting present" - Mario Vargas Llosa
Editorial
In fits and starts, the president of the Legislative Assembly of Costa Rica has approved the state budget for 2015, after a majority of legislators voted against it, in an arbitrary exercise supposedly covered in a legal vacuum on the subject. Previously, the Assembly had rejected three different motions containing spending cuts in the budget, including one generated from the very same Ministry.
Although in court the strike was declared illegal, the government compromised on not discounting from wages for the days not worked by the strikers in return for lifting of the strike.
After managing to avoid wage deductions for having been absent from their duties for 15 days, the Workers Syndicate of Japdeva (Sintrajap) agreed to suspend the strike and resume duties as normal today at the ports of Limon and Moin.