Panama and Honduras were the only two Central American countries to report increases in foreign direct investment in 2018 over the previous year, with year-on-year changes of 36% and 3%, respectively.
The growth of investments directed to Panama, which concentrated 51% of the sub-regional total, explained the increase that was reached in 2018 in Central America (9.4%), since except Panama and Honduras, the Central American countries received less Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) than in 2017, explains the report "Foreign Direct Investment in Latin America and the Caribbean 2019", produced by the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC).
In Guatemala, the Economic Activity Index registered year-on-year growth of 3.1% in June, explained in part by the variations of Private Services and Manufacturing Industries.
According to the report of the Banco de Guatemala the economic activity measured by the estimation of the IMAE, reported a deceleration in June 2019, since it registered a 3.1% growth rate, increase that is lower to the variation of 3.5% reported in May of this year.
Between the first semester of 2018 and the same period of 2019 electricity generation in Panama grew 4%, which is explained by the behavior of the supply from thermal sources.
The most updated figures of the General Comptroller of Panama, detail that in the first six months of 2019 were generated 5,566 million kwh, which is equivalent to a 3.7% increase over the 5,366 million offered in the same period of 2018.
During the first seven months of 2019, family remittances to Guatemala totaled $5.875 million, 13% more than in the same period in 2018.
According to the most recent figures from the Bank of Guatemala, in July 2019 the country received $948 million in remittances, 16% more than the $818 million recorded in the same month in 2018.
During the first half of the year, 1.73 million visitors arrived in Costa Rica, a figure 3.9% higher than that reported in the same period in 2018, behavior that is explained by the rise in the arrival of tourists from North America.
Figures from the Costa Rican Tourism Institute specify that only during June of this year, the arrival of 249 thousand visitors was registered, 11% more than those reported in the same month of 2018.
In Panama, the downward trend in sales reported in recent years continues, since between January and June this year 23,520 vehicles were registered in the country, 8% less than in the same period in 2018.
According to the latest report of the General Comptroller of the Republic, between the first six months of 2018 and the same period of 2019, the number of units registered in the country fell from 25,521 to 23,520.
In recent years, the number of motorcycles in Guatemala has increased by 13%, from 1.33 million units registered in July 2017 to 1.5 million reported in the same month in 2019.
According to data from the Tax Registry of Vehicles of the Superintendence of Tax Administration (SAT), up to July 2019 the country's active vehicle fleet registered 3.76 million units, of which 40% corresponded to motorcycle type vehicles.
According to official statistics, the balance of public external debt up to June 30, 2019 was of 6,057.0 million dollars, which represented a 46.0-million-dollar increase regarding the balance registered in the previous month (US$6,011.0 million). In comparison with the balance to December 2018 (US$5,949.6 million), this represented a US$107.4 million increase, as a result of disbursements of external loans to the month of June for US$203.3 million, mainly from multilateral institutions (US$166.5 million), and principal payments of contracted debt for US$103.0 million.
Construction activity does not recover in Panama, since from January to June 2019 $510 million were reported in new constructions, additions and repairs, 23% less than in the same period of 2018.
According to data from the General Comptroller of the Republic, in June of this year the cost of new constructions, additions and repairs totaled $106 million, 7% below the figure for the same month in 2018.
From April to June of this year, the unemployment rate stood at 11.9%, higher than the 11.3% reported in the first quarter of 2019.
For the second quarter of 2019, there was a significant increase in the net labor participation rate of 63%, with a 2.1 pp. increase over the same period of the previous year. The national labor force was 2.48 million people, significantly increased by 114 thousand people compared to the second quarter of 2018, this product of an equally significant decrease in the population outside the labor force (60 thousand people), reported the National Institute of Statistics and Censuses (INEC).
In the first five months of the year, Honduran exports totaled $1,914 million, 9% less than reported in the same period of 2018.
From January to May 2019, as a result of general merchandise trade transactions abroad, a deficit of $2,272.4 million was generated, $142.3 million more than the accumulated in the same period of 2018, informed the Central Bank of Honduras.
In the first six months of this year, the country received $2.685 million in family remittances, an amount 11% higher than that reported in the same period in 2018.
Figures from the Central Bank of Honduras show that between January and June 2018 and the same period this year the flow of family remittances grew by $266 million, from $2.419 million to $2.685 million.
During the first six months of 2019, the country received $797 million in remittances, 10% more than the amount reported in the same period last year.
In June of this year, remittances totaled $134.3 million dollars, which represented a 16.6% increase over the same month in 2018, informed the Central Bank of Nicaragua.
The number of active cell phones in the country reached 5.43 million between 2018, 3% more than what was reported in 2017, increase explained by the behavior of the number of mobile phones with type of service per contract.
Reports of the General Comptroller of the Republic detail that between 2017 and 2018 the number of active cell phones in the country went from 5,280,195 to 5,432,789, which is equivalent to a 3% variation.
In Costa Rica, between the second and third quarters of the year, the Global Expectations Index reported a decline of 9%, explained by a deterioration in the prospects of all productive sectors.
Regarding the previous quarter, the fall in the general optimism of businessmen originates in the weakening of the indices of services, manufacturing, trade and construction and to a lesser extent, agriculture, explains the report prepared by the University of Costa Rica.
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