With the 2.9% year-on-year change reported in the IMAE in November 2019, the economy has accumulated six consecutive months of acceleration.
The country's production, measured through the Monthly Index of Economic Activity (IMAE), registered a 2.9% year-on-year growth in November, the highest since July 2018, reported the Central Bank of Costa Rica (BCCR).
In the context of the economic slowdown that Costa Rica suffered for much of last year, 4 out of 10 families restricted their purchases of clothing and footwear.
Thirty-three percent of households reduced their spending on meals outside the home, and in the area of other recreation or entertainment expenses, 29% of households consulted said that during 2019 they restricted their spending, details the "2019 News Survey ", prepared by the University of Costa Rica (UCR).
In Costa Rica, businessmen believe that by 2020 major steps should be taken to revive the economy and reduce unemployment, and government initiatives should focus on not hindering national production.
For the national productive sector, represented in the Unión Costarricense de Cámaras y Asociaciones del Sector Empresarial Privado (UCCAEP) (Costa Rican Union of Chambers and Associations of the Private Business Sector), during next year this government cannot fail to implement public policies that are not very effective.
During October 2019, a 2.5% year-on-year variation was reported in the IMAE, a rise that is explained by the behavior of manufacturing activity and the service sector.
According to the report of the Central Bank of Costa Rica (BCCR), with the rise reported in the tenth month of the year, the Monthly Index of Economic Activity (IMAE) showed signs of recovery for the fifth consecutive month.
As a result of the economic slowdown and the imbalance in public finances, Costa Rica faces a complex and high-risk future, in which the margins for action and maneuver will be increasingly limited.
The State of the Nation 2019 report explains that the economic slowdown and imbalance in public finances created a scenario of great complexity and risk, both economic and political, which aggravated the structural weaknesses or "blind spots" of the national development style.
In its latest update of economic growth projections for 2019, ECLAC estimates that the Dominican Republic will close the year with a 5% increase, followed by Panama, which would reach a growth rate of 3.7%.
According to economic growth projections for Latin America, which were estimated by the Economic Commission for Latin America (ECLAC) and updated in November, the Dominican Republic will be the country in the region that will increase its production the most this year.
For the authorities of the Central Bank, the economy begins to show signs of recovery, because for four consecutive months the economic activity has registered a positive performance.
In June of this year, the Monthly Economic Activity Index (IMAE) began to show signs of recovery, recording a 1.2% year-on-year increase. In July and August, positive variations continued, with 1.4% and 1.7% increases reported, respectively.
After year-on-year variations of 1.4% and 1.6%, respectively, will be reported in Costa Rica in July and August, in September the IMAE grew 2%, again explained by the performance of the special regimes manufacturing sector.
The growth of the Monthly Economic Activity Index (IMAE) in August was driven by the production of special regimes (free zone and active perfecting), which grew at a 12% year-on-year rate, according to information from the Central Bank of Costa Rica.
After the economies of the region grew by 2.6% in 2018 as a whole, the IMF estimates that 2019 would close with a rise of 2.7% and could reach 3.4% by 2020.
The document "World Economic Outlook", prepared by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), states that for Panama the projected growth of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) for 2019 was reduced from 5% to 4.3%.
After recording a 1.4% year-on-year variation in July, in August the IMAE varied by 1.6%, again explained by the performance of the special regimes manufacturing sector.
The growth of the Monthly Economic Activity Index (IMAE) in August was driven by the production of special regimes (free zone and active perfecting), which grew at a 12.6% year-on-year rate, informed the Central Bank of Costa Rica.
In the second quarter of the year, Costa Rica's GDP grew 1.4% year-on-year, below the 3% reported for the same period in 2018, which is associated with the evolution of internal demand and external demand for the production of companies under the definitive regime.
In the second quarter of 2019, the country's economic activity, as measured by the trend of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) cycle, grew 1.4%, continuing the loss of dynamism observed since the second quarter of 2018, reported the Central Bank of Costa Rica (BCCR).
Understanding the economic environment the company is facing, generating projections in real time and having the opinion of external consultants to the organization, are some of the strategies that could help companies in times of low sales.
In Central America, during the first half of the year, some economies reported declines in their productive activity. The most difficult case is Nicaragua, where economic activity has collapsed 7% in the last year. However, other countries face adverse situations, such as Costa Rica, whose level of economic activity has shown a downward trend over the last year and a half.
After registering a 1.3% year-on-year variation in June, the Monthly Economic Activity Index in July reached 1.5%, which is mainly explained by the performance of the special regimes manufacturing sector.
After the first seven months of the year, average growth stood at 1.5%, while the average rate of the last twelve months was 1.8%, both lower than that recorded in the same period last year, reported the Central Bank of Costa Rica.
Faced with the threat of a global economic slowdown and the possibility of the U.S. entering recession next year, businessmen in the region argue that to mitigate possible adverse effects, it is key to diversify export destinations.
Market analysts assure that the slowdown in U.S. economic activity is already a reality, and that what is still not clear, is the possibility that the economy will go into recession next year. The recent reversal of the U.S. bond curve, which historically has been the signal that warns of a recession in the short term, may not mean the same on this time, say some U.S. brokerage firms.
While in June the production of special regime companies increased 10% with respect to the same month in 2018, companies operating outside those regimes grew just 0.3%.
The Central Bank of Costa Rica (BCCR) reported that the production of special regimes (SR) companies grew 10.2% in June compared to the same month last year, as a result of increased external demand for medical implements, computer and business services.
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