For Fitch, the delay in vaccination campaigns constitutes a latent risk of a prolonged pandemic, which would delay the recovery of the region's economies and would cause negative pressures on the risk ratings to be issued in the coming months.
Fitch Ratings issued a bulletin for Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean on May 25, in which it warned that given the deep economic contractions in the region and the moderate recovery outlook, there are threats of negative rating pressures.
The Inter-American Development Bank approved two lines of credit totaling $500 million, resources that will be used by the Government to finance the public budget and policy reforms to ensure fiscal sustainability and maintain macroeconomic stability.
One of the approved lines incorporates contingency measures to increase spending related to the health emergency and targeted support to households and businesses affected by the crisis, informed the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB).
Strengthening the confidence of economic agents through a solution to the problem of public finances and moving forward with the process of vaccinating the population are key factors for the Costa Rican economy to recover quickly in the new year.
The spread of covid-19 and the restrictions imposed at the local and global levels severely affected most of Costa Rica's productive sectors, to the extent that the unemployment rate climbed to historical levels, several businesses were closed and economic activity fell sharply.
Although the Alvarado administration reversed the initial proposal to ask the IMF for $1.75 billion in financing and called for an inter-sectoral dialogue, Costa Rica is semi-paralyzed by the blockades that are taking place on various roads in the country.
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).
Costa Rican authorities informed that Citi Global Markets and HSBC Global Banking will be the placement banks and financial advisors that will accompany the country in the process of issuance of securities and management of liabilities in the international market.
The issue that will be made at the international level is the one that was approved on July 16 through Bill No. 21.201, which authorizes the Executive to administer, issue and manage financing operations in the international market for up to $1.5 billion (one thousand five hundred million U.S. dollars).
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 governmentbudget for 2020 to be lower than this year's, the Assembly reported.
Although the Legislative Assembly approved the issuance of $1.5 billion of debt in the international market, Fitch Ratings believes that in the coming years there could be renewed uncertainty about the sources of financing for the Costa Rican government.
In Costa Rica, the central government's financial deficit at the fifth month of the year maintained its upward trend as a result of higher interest expenditure and stood at 2.6% of GDP.
While the behavior of the financial deficit is largely due to interest payments, the increase in capital spending also shows significant variation, which translates into better infrastructure conditions needed to facilitate the mobility of goods and people, explains a newsletter from the Costa Rican Ministry of Finance.
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.
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%.
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.
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.
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