For businessmen in Costa Rica, the dynamism and growth that the sector can report in 2020 will depend largely on the commitment of the Alvarado administration in the implementation of a series of actions to ensure that this activity rebounds.
For the Costa Rican Chamber of Construction CCC, the action of the Government represents the cornerstone for the sector this year.
During December 2019 in Honduras, the Economic Activity Confidence Index registered a 33% decrease with respect to what was reported at the end of 2018.
Analysts said they expect that the slower evolution of the world economy and adverse weather conditions could continue to affect the growth of the Honduran economy, reported the Central Bank of Honduras.
With the beginning of the new government in Guatemala, businessmen in the agricultural sector are optimistic and believe that the priorities of the new authorities should be to guarantee property rights and improve road infrastructure.
According to a survey conducted to measure the perceptions of the members of the Chamber of Agriculture (Camagro), economic revitalization is another issue that should prioritize the work agenda of the government of Alejandro Giammattei.
In Panama the government estimates that in 2020 the economy will grow between 4% and 4.5%, a rise that would be determined by the behavior of construction, tourism and exports.
According to estimates from the Ministry of Economy and Finance (MEF), by the end of 2019 the increase in the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) could fluctuate between 3% and 3.5%, while by the present year 2020 it will be between 4% and 4.5%.
After registering increases in the number of imported vehicles in November and December, car dealers in Costa Rica expect that this 2020 will reinforce the positive trend.
According to data from the Ministry of Finance in November last year, 4152 vehicles were imported into the country, a figure that exceeds by 12% that registered in the same month of 2018.
Despite global threats, such as the possibility of a global economic slowdown, businessmen in the sector are confident that their sales will continue to rise.
Companies operating under the free zone regime in the country, estimate that their sales abroad during 2019 amounted to about $ 1.7 billion, an amount that exceeds by 5% what was recorded in 2018.
The Central Bank estimates that in 2020 economic growth will be 2.5%, which would exceed the 2.3% projected at the end of 2019.
The continuity in the application of public policies aimed at improving the environment for local consumption and investment, allows to foresee a slight rebound in the dynamics of production in 2020, with an estimated annual rate of 2.5%, reported the Central Bank (BCR).
For the 2019-2020 crop, production is estimated at 1.91 million quintals, about 12% more than in the previous cycle, partly due to the renewal of some coffee plantations.
The Coffee Institute of Costa Rica (Icafé) forecasts that coffee production will increase by 196,760 sacks of 46 kilograms of processed beans, from 1,717,659 quintals reported in the 2018-2019 cycle to 1,914,419 projected for the 2019-2020 harvest.
Businessmen in the sector report that at the end of September 2019, industrial activity shows a 1.3% recovery, leaving behind the falls registered in 2018 and part of 2019.
According to the Industrial Activity Index, prepared by Central American Business Intelligence -CABI- and presented by the Chamber of Industry, at the end of September 2019, industrial activity shows a positive recovery of 1.3%, leaving behind the falls registered in 2018 and part of 2019.
For the first quarter of 2020, only 10% of companies in Panama expect to increase their payrolls, a proportion that is slightly lower than the 11% recorded in the same period of 2018.
Panamanian employers report slow hiring plans for the January-March period, with 10% of employers expecting to increase workforces, 10% anticipating a decrease and 75% remaining unchanged, resulting in a Net Employment Trend of 0%, reported Manpower.
In Costa Rica, businessmen believe that by 2020 major steps should be taken to revive the economy and reduce unemployment, and government initiatives should focus on not hindering national production.
For the national productive sector, represented in the Unión Costarricense de Cámaras y Asociaciones del Sector Empresarial Privado (UCCAEP) (Costa Rican Union of Chambers and Associations of the Private Business Sector), during next year this government cannot fail to implement public policies that are not very effective.
The Chamber of Industries of Costa Rica (ICRC) believes that in 2019 the country engaged in a spiral of uncertainty, as businessmen and consumers were affected by the application of value added tax (VAT) and changes in the income tax.
The increase to $135 of the international price of the quintal is promising for the coffee sector, since in recent years producers have gone through severe crises because of the fall in the price of the grain.
According to figures from Bloomberg Markets, between mid-November and the first week of December the price of a quintal of coffee at the international level registered an important upturn, going from $100 to $135.
In a context of slowdown in industrial activity and loss of jobs, the industrialists' union of El Salvador calls for a policy of attracting investment through incentives and reviewing and taking advantage of existing trade agreements.
El Salvador's industrial sector registered a 0.9% growth in the first half of 2019, two percentage points less than last year during the same period, a fact that shows that economic growth in El Salvador remains slow and low, remaining at 2%, reported the Salvadoran Association of Industrialists (ASI).
In Guatemala, 54% of businessmen believe that in 2020 the local economy will accelerate, 42% believe that stable growth will be reported and 4% believe that a slowdown could be reported.
According to the Third Business Perception Survey conducted by the Coordinating Committee of Agricultural, Commercial, Industrial and Financial Associations (Cacif), 67% of respondents expect greater growth of their companies and 56% expect more employment with the arrival of the new government.
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