To ensure financing for its future functions, the Costa Rican government will seek loans from the World Bank, IDB, CABEI and CAF during 2020, and plans to insist on the approval of $4.5 billion in Eurobonds.
For this year, the Costa Rican government plans to continue negotiating loans for budget support with the World Bank, the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), the Central American Bank for Economic Integration (CABEI) and the Andean Development Corporation - Latin American Development Bank (CAF).
The Alvarado administration presented to the Legislative Assembly the draft public budget for 2020, which will be 4.3% lower than 2019, thus representing the largest spending reduction in recent years.
A decrease in current spending, as well as a decrease in public sector institution positions and salaries, allowed the central government budget for 2020 to be lower than this year's, the Assembly reported.
The Andean Development Corporation approved a $500 million loan for the government, which will be used to "cover the needs contemplated in the 2019 Regular Budget."
The terms of the loan are at 6 months plus a margin of 1.85% at an annual Libor rate of 18 years from the effective date of the loan agreement.
The deficit of the Central Government's Total Balance up to March 2019 is $1.267 million, 1.8% of GDP, above the 1.4% recorded at the end of the first quarter of 2018.
Total revenues with fiscal documents of the Central Government up to March 2019, totaled $1,618 million, with a 7.1% decrease with respect to March 2018, explains a report of the Ministry of Economy and Finance.
Guatemala and El Salvador are the Central American economies that have registered the lowest levels of economic growth, when this is associated with the size of their public sector.
Panama, Nicaragua, Honduras and Costa Rica are the countries that would be obtaining exceptional results in their economic growth from the average expenditure of the region during 2011 to 2018, which could be associated with the investment made in past periods, informed the Central American Institute of Fiscal Studies (Icefi).
With the application of the fiscal rule, by 2020 in Costa Rica the growth of current expenditure in the regular budgets of the entities of the Non-Financial Public Sector will not exceed 4.67%.
From the statement of the Ministry of Finance:
March 25, 2019. The Minister of Finance, Rocío Aguilar, reported today that as a result of the application of the fiscal rule, by 2020 the growth of current expenditure in the regular budgets of entities and bodies that are part of the non-financial public sector may not exceed 4.67%.
Insufficient resources to finance public spending and the accumulation of outstanding tax credit repayments are some of the problems that the government will face in Guatemala in 2020.
According to the Central American Institute of Fiscal Studies (Icefi), the new government should make an important effort to improve the effectiveness of the Superintendence of Tax Administration, since the percentage of non-compliance with Value Added Tax (VAT) has been growing since 2012 and the percentage of income tax and other taxes is unknown.
The Ministry of Finance reported that the placement was made through an extraordinary auction of domestic debt securities in the local primary market.
Costa Rican authorities informed that the collection was made through fixed rate securities in dollars with expiration in 2024, 2026 and 2029, and was assigned to 15 different stock exchange positions.
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.
Driven by the financial commitments of the Central Government and those originated by pensions, the country's public debt increased 3% at the end of 2018, reaching $18.975 million.
Finance Ministry statistics detail that between 2017 and 2018 the public debt that includes credits contracted by the Central Government, its financial and non-financial public companies, as well as the Central Reserve Bank, increased $602 million, from $18.373 million to $18.975 million.
Between 2014 and 2017, the fiscal deficit increased to an average of 1.4% of GDP, and for this year the authorities plan to end at 1.6% and in 2019 it could increase to 2.5%.
Representatives of the Ministry of Public Finance informed that some of the increase in the fiscal deficit foreseen for next year will be caused by the fact that the General Budget of Income and Expenditure of the State for Fiscal Year 2019, which will ascend to $11,390 million, will allow assigning more resources for infrastructure maintenance.
After a long and tense wait, the Constitutional Chamber granted the approval for the Law to Strengthen Public Finances to be voted in Congress with a simple majority.
The Court's judgment prepares the way for the law to advance more quickly in the coming weeks in the Congress. Now legislators will be able to vote their approval in the second debate, ending a long period of uncertainty, which led to a significant depreciation of the Colon against the dollar, a rise in interest rates and a general concern about the economic future in the short term.
In Costa Rica, the private sector anticipates adverse effects on the export and tourism sector's competitiveness if the Ministry of Finance succeeds in consolidating its plan to issue $6 billion in bonds in the international market over the next six years.
The reaction of the country's export sector comes after the government announced this week that it will ask the Congress for authorization to issue bonds in international markets for at least $5 billion.
The Ministry of Finance reported that $200 million of the bonds placed in the domestic market were "in firm" and another $400 million placed to the best effort.
The Ministry of Finance reported that because of Direct Contracting No. CD-MH-CP-TN-001 -2018 called "Contract for issuance services and distribution of internal debt securities", on November 19th two companies were awarded with a firm issuance of $100 million each.
The 2019 budget approved by the National Assembly includes almost $9 billion for investments and $2.943 million for debt service.
Panamanian authorities informed that the approved project includes an adjustment of 350 million balboas additional to the budget initially budgeted by the Ministry of Economy and Finance (MEF).
According to a MEF statement, from this total, $8,996 million are for investments, another $11,930 million will be used for the functioning of the State, and $2,943 million for debt service.