The Central American Bank for Economic Integration approved a line of credit that the government will use to finance programs in the education, health, housing and road infrastructure sectors.
The loan is aimed at the Multisectoral Program for Economic Reactivation and Social Protection (NIC-Solidaria), which aims to initially support at least 41 projects and programs of public investment, production and social assistance, reported the Central American Bank for Economic Integration (CABEI).
As of June, Central American economies began to show signs of incipient recovery and as of August, Guatemala, Nicaragua and Costa Rica registered the smallest drops in their levels of economic activity.
Since March of this year, the region has faced a severe economic crisis generated by the outbreak of covid-19.
Verifying the new levels of demand, offering only basic products or services, and delaying investments as much as possible to recover cash flow, are some of the strategies that businesses plan to implement to face the new commercial reality.
Because of the covid-19 outbreak in Central America, governments decreed strict home quarantines and restricted most economic activities and the movement of consumers.
After the unemployment rate in the United States fell from 15% to 8% between April and August, it became evident that at the beginning of the crisis the capacity of recovery that the North American country could develop was underestimated and it is expected that this behavior could boost the economic activity in Central America.
During the first half of 2020, when the first cases of covid-19 began to be reported in the region, forecasts noted that the recovery of economic activity would be excessively slow, due to a significant drop in consumption globally.
Using technology to measure the flow of visitors, reducing the furniture available in the food courts and implementing product deliveries in the parking area are part of the changes that the region's shopping centers must apply in this new reality.
Because of the threat of the spread of covid-19, since mid-March in Central America, the authorities agreed to close the shopping centers. So far, in Costa Rica, they have already reopened, in El Salvador they will be operating again in the coming weeks and in the case of Guatemala, it is not yet defined when this sector will be allowed to reactivate.
Policies focused on credit restructuring, fiscal incentives for the production of essential goods and improving the efficiency of import and export processes are part of the proposals of the Nicaraguan private sector to face the economic and health crisis.
"In recent weeks, the Superior Council of Private Enterprise (Cosep) has been proposing a series of measures to the authorities in response to the unstoppable advance of the pandemic caused by the outbreak of covid-19 and the alarming situation of the health system," the union explained in a statement.
Eliminating "tax harassment", suspending threatening messages to the private sector, such as lifting bank secrecy, and stopping persecuting the formal employer is part of what Costa Rican entrepreneurs are proposing to generate more jobs in the next two years.
In Costa Rica, the business sector presented the Alvarado administration with a proposal of 113 actions to generate new jobs in the next two years.
One of the best parameters of the strength of an economy is the amount of businesses it creates. In Panama, 47% fewer companies were created in 2017 than in 2016.
Funides projects that 2017 will close with economic growth of 4.8%, explained mainly by the good performance of exports, which may slowdown in 2018.
From the preface to Funides' Third Economic Situation Report:
FUNIDES projects that the economy will close with a growth of 4.8 percent in 2017. Consumption, after having slowed down during 2016 and much of 2017, now shows signs of some stability, except in the case of consumption of durable goods.There has been a slowdown in investments, while exports of goods and services have shown an acceleration even in the third quarter of the year, and have been a key element in sustaining the current rate of growth.However, there are decreases in exports of harnesses and a slowdown in the textile sector, which is expected to have almost zero growth.Manufacturing continued to be driven by increased activity in certain export products, such as sugar and meat, although less favorable international prices are forecast. The deceleration in the collectionof taxes on added value and on income continued, a trend that had been highlighted in the previous Conjuncture Report.The accumulated deficit of the INSS was less negative as a result of an effort to reduce expenses, in a scenario of increased revenues. Remittances continued to rise, reaching an increase of 10.6 percent in nominal terms in September, well above the recent average. This increase in remittances has been generating a positive effect on consumption in the last months of the year.We are noticing a slowdown in private investment, which could close in figures lower than those of last year.
Entrepreneurs in the fisheries and aquaculture sectors are demanding that the government boost production of the species, whose consumption is projected to grow globally.
The government still has not spoken on the topic, but it is expected that industry representatives will meet with officials next week to refine the development plan for 2015, which includes raising tilapia.
With the exception of the financial sector, which shows a negative trend, the country's monthly index of economic activity confirms the good results, especially for the trade, industry and farming sectors.
Nicaragua's Monthly Index of Economic Activity (IMAE) for August, just published by the country's central bank (BCN in Spanish) has recorded growth of 7.6%.
Economic recovery appears to have come close to a halt in the major industrialised economies, with falling household and business confidence affecting both world trade and employment, according to new analysis from the OECD.
Growth remains strong in most emerging economies, albeit at a more moderate pace.
Economic recovery appears to have come close to a halt in the major industrialised economies, with falling household and business confidence affecting both world trade and employment, according to new analysis from the OECD. Growth remains strong in most emerging economies, albeit at a more moderate pace.
FUNIDES has projected economic growth of 3.5% to 4% for 2011-2013, noting that these are various risks that make the projections err towards the downside.
The executive summary of the second situation report by the Nicaraguan Economic Foundation for Economic and Social Development (FUNIDES) 2011 begins:
1. The economic recovery that began in the second half of 2009 continued (albeit at a slower rate) in the first quarter of 2011, driven both by exports and by investment, consumption and government spending.
Report from SIECA shows an increase of $2,406 million in external trade for the first quarter of 2010 compared to the same period in 2009.
After 18 months of instability and falling levels of trade, in the first quarter of 2010 external trade recorded an increase of $2,406 million, according to statistics from central banks, trade and economy ministers and statistics institutes of Central American countries.
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