The Costa Rican government announced that in the remainder of 2019 and next year, it plans to invest about $158 million in the modernization of international and regional air terminals.
In the international airports Daniel Oduber, Tobías Bolaños and Limón, works for more than $131 million will be executed, according to official plans. Almost $27 million would be invested in aerodromes in Palmar Sur, Golfito, Pérez Zeledón, Guápiles, Quepos, Tortuguero, Coto 47 and Puerto Jiménez, informed the Costa Rican government.
The proportion of public debt to GDP is about to reach 60%, the maximum limit allowed by law, which will force the government to restrict capital spending in the coming years, in order to avoid further deterioration of public finances.
The Treasury authorities indicated that at the end of 2019 the country's public debt will represent 59% of production, adverse scenario for investment, because according to the fiscal rule, when the proportion reaches 60% will affect capital spending, since the government must begin to contain expenditures.
In Costa Rica, investments in the construction of highways, roads and bridges are forecast to grow in 2019 and 2020, by 47% and 10%, respectively.
The 2019-2020 Macroeconomic Program of the Central Bank of Costa Rica (BCCR), explains that by 2019, the acceleration in the development of road infrastructure projects will be the main engine of growth in public investment.
In the first six months of the year, government entities from the countries of the region submitted 73 environmental impact studies for the construction of different public infrastructure projects.
The interactive platform "Construction in Central America", from the Trade Intelligence Area of CentralAmericaData, provides the updated list of public and private construction projects that present the environmental impact studies (EIA) to the respective institutions of each country.
The road infrastructure investment plan announced by the Alvarado administration includes, among other things, the allocation of $350 million for the San José-San Ramón, San José-Cartago, and San Carlos road routes.
From a statement issued by the Ministry of Public Works:
"These projects will be financed with existing resources of unutilised credit and with the public-private partnership scheme, so they will not put pressure on public finances.
The Costa Rican Ministry of Education used part of a $167 million trust, originally earmarked for the construction of 79 schools, to pay for sanctions imposed by the IADB because of a delay in the execution of those works.
Around $1.7 million was what the Ministry of Public Education (MEP) used to pay the sanction that the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) imposed on it for not executing the $167.5 million trust within the established timeframe, money which had been allocated for building 79 educational centers and 24 roofed sports courts.
Building the new airport in Orotina, expanding the route to Puerto Caldera, building the San José-San Ramón highway and simplifying procedures for doing business are some of things that China requires before setting up a Special Economic Zone in the country.
The study to determine the country's feasibility to host a special Chinese economic zone was suggested by the Chinchilla administration in 2014, but its results have only now become available, due to, according to former Costa Rican ambassador to China, Marco Vinicio Ruiz, bad management on the part of the current administration.
In a period of three years, resources will be invested in infrastructure improvements and software to automate ticket sales in national parks, among other places.
From a statement issued by the Costa Rican Tourism Institute:
The Costa Rican Tourism Institute (ICT) will be allocating three million dollars over a period of three years (one million dollars per year), with the possibility of extending it for three more years, in order to optimize infrastructure and services in Protected Wild Areas (ASP by their initials in Spanish) in order to provide adequate facilities to improve the visitor experience.
University infrastructure in Costa Rica, and road construction and office building in Panama, are some of the public infrastructure projects planned for the coming months in the region.
CentralAmericaData's information system "Construction Projects in Central America,", compiled by the Business Intelligence Unit,provides an up to datelist of public and private construction projects for which environmental impact assessments (EIAs) were submitted to Institutions in each country in February 2017.
The OECD has warned that "underinvestment" in infrastructure is a critical element that inhibits the country's ability to trade.
An analysis of the degree of market opening by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), showed positive and negative results, with the most noteworthy among the favorable being an annual increase of 9% in the volume of exports of goods between 1994 and 2013 and a reduction in tariffs and negotiation of free trade agreements.
The 2017 budget drawn up by the government of Costa Rica is the result of an arithmetic exercise, where the political will of the Solis administration has barely reduced maintenance and has increased privileges in the dominant state corporations.
EDITORIAL
Scandalous could be the best word to describe the magnitude of the increase of 12% which the Solis Rivera administration has made in the 2017 public budget.The 12% increase not only far exceeds the projected inflation for this year, but is disproportionate and far from reality, considering the serious and urgent fiscal problem facing the country.
Works at the airport, works on riverbeds and construction of sports infrastructure are some of the projects which were awarded to private companies in May 2016.
The report "Construction Projects in Central America", prepared by the Business Intelligence unit at CentralAmericaData.com contains a detailed list of major construction projects awarded by Central American governments.
The government of Costa Rica will pay $2,700 per person to enterprises hiring in vulnerable sectors and whose staff remain in their posts for at least 12 months.
From a statement issued by the Presidency of Costa Rica:
Promoting job creation in two ways: an economic benefit to businesses that hire people and training in dual education.
· Registration of companies and individuals at the website www.miprimerempleo.cr
While state officials are happy to delegate their responsibilities to the UN Office for Project Services, the Comptroller of Guatemala has declared that its services are "detrimental to the interests of the state".
EDITORIAL
The arrival in Central America of the UN Office for Project Services (UNOPS) was hailed by many as a factor that would allow the execution of public works which are very difficult or impossible for state institutions in the region to run, for various reasons ranging from lack of qualified personnel to simple negligence.
The Ministry of Justice has announced that it will invest $20 million to expand La Reforma prison and another $187 million in seven new prisons.
The works to La Reforma prison consist of construction of an additional 24 modules, while seven new prisons will be financed with a $132 million loan from the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB).
Justice Minister Cristina Ramirez said in an article on Crhoy.com that "...