Due to shortages in raw materials and bottlenecks in the production of inputs demanded by the sector, businessmen in El Salvador expect that in the coming weeks the prices of plastic products will reflect increases.
Following the entry into force of the Sign Law, agencies engaged in providing printed advertising services estimate that the cost of billboards will increase by 30% due to the new tax payments to be made to the municipalities.
According to the Assembly, the purpose of the Law is to establish the legal framework to regulate the advertising and propaganda carried out by means of signs located in the municipalities of the country, based on urban, suburban and rural planning and development, as well as technological advances.
Following the reactivation of China's economy in mid-2020, the Asian giant has monopolized a good part of the raw materials demanded by industry, a situation that is pushing up costs and generating uncertainty among Central American businessmen.
Due to the pandemic generated by the covid-19 outbreak, production in China was considerably interrupted during the first semester of 2020. But, after it reactivated its economic activity, the Asian country began to hoard raw materials that are used in the plastic industry.
In order to reduce travel costs, the Guatemalan Airline Association asked Ministry of Health authorities to no longer require passengers to take a negative covid-19 test to enter the country.
According to the Ministry of Health document called "National Guidelines for the Prevention of COVID-19 for International Travel to and from Guatemala" prepared on September 15, 2020, all travelers arriving in the country must present a negative test for covid-19.
Faced with increasing chaos in Costa Rica due to demonstrations and blockades, a part of the business sector decided, unilaterally, to negotiate with representatives of the movement that incites to protest, and to reject the official call by the President of the Republic.
In order to access the $1.75 billion credit requested from the IMF, the Costa Rican government proposes to tax financial transactions, increase the tax on the profits of companies and individuals, and increase the tax on real estate.
On the afternoon of September 17, and in the context of a severe economic crisis that had been going on since before the beginning of the pandemic, the Alvarado administration presented the plan with which it intends to mitigate the fiscal impact of the Covid-19 crisis, a proposal to negotiate an agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to obtain a credit of $1.75 billion.
With the boom in demand for food delivery, Costa Rican restaurant owners claim that their companies have given up part of the profits to assume the costs of making alliances with delivery applications.
Since last March, when the first cases of covid-19 were reported in Costa Rica, consumers have been subjected to severe restrictions on mobility, which has led to transformations in the forms of marketing.
Discounts and offers, increase in the price level generally and the rise in operating costs due to new health and safety protocols are the main threats to the profitability of companies in this new commercial reality.
Given this context of economic and health crisis, which derives from the outbreak of covid-19 at the global level, Ariel Baños, a specialist in price management and founder of Fijaciondeprecios.com, explains what are the main threats that could affect the profitability levels of companies, and details some strategies that could be applied to mitigate the adverse effects.
In Costa Rica, exporters insist that rates be renegotiated at the Moin Container Terminal, since currently the cost of moving a container at that terminal exceeds by about $207 what was paid at the Japdeva docks.
To effectively apply data analysis tools on a large scale, the proper structuring of the information is essential, otherwise the cost that the company will have to incur to reverse the errors will be very high.
Data governance, which encompasses the set of processes, functions, policies, standards and measurements that ensure the effective and efficient use of information, becomes relevant to enterprises, which increasingly benefit from the use of machine learning tools and statistical analysis.
Costa Rican businessmen are opposed to the bill that gives Icafé the authority to impose requirements and controls on the processes of supplying the raw material necessary for grain production.
In the current period, the Legislative Assembly plans to discuss bill 21.163, which aims to transform the powers of the Costa Rican Coffee Institute (Icafé), but the business sector anticipates that the proposed modifications will lead to a rise in the prices of the product.
Because of factors such as business closures and lack of opportunities, it is estimated that criminal activity costs Honduras and El Salvador 16% of GDP, and in the case of Guatemala, its losses could amount to 7% of its production.
In Central America, the human costs of crime remain one of the highest in the world. El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras—referred to as the Northern Triangle— account for about four-and-a-half percent of homicides worldwide despite only having about one-half-percent of the world's population.
The Panama Chamber of Commerce requested the Panama Canal Authority to postpone the start of collection of the fee for the use of fresh water in the Canal, which would begin to be paid on February 15, 2020.
Between January 15 and April 14, 2020, the electricity tariff will decrease by an average of 5% compared to the price reported in the previous quarter.
The contribution of renewable energy registered a significant increase in the system, reaching 67% of the injections in the Wholesale Market in the last quarter, while in the previous quarter it was only 46%, being this the main reason behind the reduction in the tariffs.
As a result of the tax reform implemented in February 2019, at the beginning of 2020 the prices of beverages increased, mainly soft drinks sold in plastic containers.
In February of last year, the Ortega regime approved the reform of the Tax Agreement Law, which consisted of increasing income tax from 1% to 2% for medium sized companies with higher incomes, and from 1% to 3% for large taxpayers.
español
2804