Up to August, the external and internal public debt amounted to $18.463 billion, equivalent to 23.4% of the country's Gross Domestic Product.
According to figures from the Ministry of Public Finance, in the last nine years the debt to GDP ratio has slightly varied, between 23.3% and 24.8%.
Regarding the country's indebtedness level, Abelardo Medina, senior economist at the Central American Institute of Fiscal Studies, said to Dca.gob.gt that "... It is interesting to note that, although Guatemala reports the lowest level of debt in the region and one of the lowest in the world, the evaluation given by risk rating agencies does not reach investment level. This is a product of political instability but, especially, it is due to the limited size of its fiscal revenues."
The Inter-American Development Bank loan will be used to finance wastewater projects in Honduras, sewerage works, construction of sports infrastructure, and other works.
On October 10th, the Congress of Honduras approved a $60 million loan from the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), to be paid over 25 years at an annual interest rate of 0.25%.
The Ministry of Finance issued Treasury bonds in local currency for an amount equivalent to $38 million, receiving total demand of $90 million.
From a statement issued by the Ministry of Finance:
September 25, 2018. The results of the sale of Treasury Bonds of the Republic of Guatemala represented by Account Annotation (Public Bidding); and of Representative Physical Certificates and Representative Certificates Electronically Registered in Custody of Banco de Guatemala (Auction and Public Bidding) held on September 25, 2018, with a total demand of Q.694.95 million and US $30 million, are the following:
The Central Bank explained that the short-term loan of almost $870 million to the Ministry of Finance will have no impact on inflation.
From a statement issued by the Central Bank of Costa Rica:
September 25, 2018.In accordance with what is authorized by Costa Rican legislation, the Board of Directors of the Central Bank of Costa Rica (BCCR) agreed, on Tuesday, September 25, 2018, to the acquisition of Treasury Notes, issuedby the Ministry of Finance, for an amount of ¢498,858.8 million.
In Panama, the Varela administration has submitted a bill that aims to raise the limit of public debt by $900 million more than the limit currently established.
The Minister of Economy and Finance, Eyda Varela de Chinchilla, presented a bill to the National Assembly to amend Law 34 on Fiscal Social Responsibility and Law 38 of 2012.
At the end of the second quarter of the year, the country reported that the total external debt amounted to $11.728 billion, an amount that exceeds by 1.9% what was recorded at the end of 2017.
Nicaragua's total external debt totaled 11.728 billion dollars, of which 6.0832 billion corresponds to the private sector and 5.6448 billion to the public sector.Total external debt increased by 175.7 million dollars (1.5%), compared to the first quarter of 2018, reported the Central Bank of Nicaragua.
The increase in domestic debt with terms of less than one year and the growing rise in interest rates are some of the threats that Costa Rica's public finances continue to face.
According to the 2017 Annual Report by the General Comptroller of the Republic, between 2016 and 2017 the percentage of domestic debt with a term of less than one year increased from 15% to 18%, the variable rate rose from 12% to 20%, and the interest rate in dollars grew from 19% to 24%.
Between July 2017 and the same month this year, the country reported a 5.4% increase in the balance of its total external debt, rising from $8.229 billion to $8.674 billion in July.
The Central Bank of Honduras reports that at the end of July 2018, the balance of total external debt (public and private) was US $8.6739 billion, evidencing an increase of US $101.1 million with respect to the amount registered up to December 2017 (US $8.5728 billion), mainly explained by the net use (disbursements minus amortizations) of US $138.3 million, which is partially offset by a favorable exchange variation of US $37.2 million.
In the first six months of 2018, the country's public debt grew by 5%, going from $6.487 billion at the end of 2017 to $6.828 billion at the end of June.
Of the total public debt, 83% corresponded to public sector debt with external creditors (US $5.6448 billion) and the remaining 17% to debt with the Central Government and Central Bank of Nicaragua with the national private sector (US $1.1835 billion).
In Costa Rica, the Ministry of Finance has announced that in the remainder of the year, it will need to capture close to $2.8 million from the local stock market.
From a statement issued by the Ministry of Finance:
The Ministry of Finance has issued Treasury bonds in local currency for an amount equivalent to $48 million, receiving total demand of $130 million.
From a statement issued by the Ministry of Finance:
August 21, 2018.The results of the sale of Treasury Bonds of the Republic of Guatemala represented by Account Annotation (Public Bidding); and of Representative Physical Certificates and Representative Certificates Electronically Registered in Custody of Banco deGuatemala (Auction and Public Bidding) held on August 21, 2018, with a total demand of Q.941.70 million and US $ 17.0 million, were the following:
The high level of financing and the economic slowdown explain the increase in the fiscal deficit of the central government, which at the end of July reached 3.3% of GDP, the highest in the last six years.
The decrease in tax revenues, due to a slowdown in economic activity, added to the high level of government debt, explained the strong rebound in the fiscal deficit in the first half of the year.Of the total deficit, about two thirds correspond to interest.
In the first semester of this year, the Panamanian government paid $30 million more in interest payments on the public debt than the amount paid in the same period last year.
According to official figures between the first six months of 2018 and the same period in 2017, the costs of the debt increased by 6%, rising from $537 million to $567 million.
The Ministry of Finance in Costa Rica has announced that between today and August 3 it will try to raise, through means of a direct issue in the local stock market, about $879 million.
Authorities reported that two issues of securities will be offered for sale on the Siopel platform of the National Stock Exchange.The first, of $284 million, will have a gross rate of 9% with maturity in 2020, and the second of $595 million, with a gross rate of 10.79% with maturity in 2028.
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