Arguing that there are indications that businessmen have attempted against the Nicaraguan society and the rights of the people, local authorities ordered to lift the bank and tax secrecy of former Funides executives.
In recent weeks in Nicaragua a wave of arrests has been made against presidential pre-candidates, business leaders and people who oppose the government's actions.
In Nicaragua, following the arrests of political and business leaders, uncertainty has increased after local authorities arrested Luis Alberto Rivas Anduray, Executive President of Banpro.
In the last weeks Cristiana Chamorro, Arturo Cruz, Felix Maradiaga Blandon and Juan Sebastian Chamorro have been arrested, these people were presidential pre-candidates and are accused of multiple crimes.
In Nicaragua, following the arrest of four presidential pre-candidates and the detention of business leader Jose Adan Aguerri, the productive sector demands the release of political prisoners and advocates for the government to commit itself to grant all democratic guarantees.
Following the arrest of Cristiana Chamorro, Arturo Cruz, Felix Maradiaga Blandon and Juan Sebastian Chamorro, there are now four presidential pre-candidates who have been imprisoned by Nicaraguan authorities.
After the arrest of presidential pre-candidates Cristiana Chamorro and Arturo Cruz in Nicaragua, the business sector questions the "democratic viability of a free, fair, competitive and transparent electoral process".
After an arrest warrant was issued against Cristiana Chamorro Barrios, independent presidential pre-candidate in Nicaragua, the business sector believes that it is "evidence of the government's unwillingness to carry out free, fair, transparent, competitive and supervised elections."
Following an accusation against Cristiana Maria Chamorro Barrios, filed by the Public Prosecutor's Office at the Office of Reception and Distribution of Cases and Writs of the Managua Courts, the authorities decided to issue a search and arrest warrant.
After the political crisis the country went through in 2018 and the health crisis it faced in 2020, businessmen maintain hopes that tourism activities will recover in 2021 and in the following years return to the path of growth.
The Nicaraguan tourism sector has been rained on over the past three years. In April 2018, companies engaged in these activities began to experience a crisis, as a political and social crisis occurred in the country, which ended up affecting the productive activity.
Although in the Nicaraguan market properties are priced up to 30% or 40% cheaper compared to the prices registered prior to the political and health crisis, sales have fallen considerably.
Taking as a reference 2017, the year prior to the political and social crisis in Nicaragua, it is evident that currently real estate prices have decreased by up to 30% or 40%, assure businessmen in the sector.
Since the beginning of the political crisis in 2018, the activity began to decline, the trend continued in 2019 and by 2020 the expectation is that the fall in investments in the sector will be more acute, mainly private ones.
Official data indicates that between 2017 and 2018 investment in private construction projects decreased by 17%, from $1,106 million to $914 million.
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.
Given the political and economic crisis affecting the country since April 2018, a scenario that has combined with the crisis of covid-19, the loan portfolio increased from $5,172 million in March 2018 to $3,404 million at the end of April 2020.
According to figures of the Superintendence of Banks and Other Financial Institutions (Siboif), in the first four months of the year a decrease in the credit portfolio is also reflected, since it went from $3.578 million reported at the closing of 2019 to $3.404 million recorded in April 2020, representing -5% variation for the four-month period in question.
Nicaraguan businessmen believe that electoral reform is essential to reactivate the country's economic activity, which has been in decline since the crisis erupted in 2018.
According to estimates by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Nicaragua's Gross Domestic Product contracted by 5.7% in 2019, a drop that complements the year-on-year variation of -3.8% recorded in 2018.
After production in Nicaragua fell 3.8% in 2018, the IMF estimates that during 2019 the GDP will contract by 5.7%, however, the agency predicts that by 2020 the variation could be only -1.2%.
Real GDP is estimated to have contracted by another 5.7% in 2019 due to the deterioration in aggregate demand, fiscal consolidation and sanctions, the IMF reported after its visit to the country.
In a context of falling production, the restaurant La Marseillaise, which operated in the country's capital, announced that it will temporarily close its facilities.
The French food restaurant, which had a capacity to serve 150 people and had been operating in Managua for more than four decades, made its closure official in a brief statement.
In the stock market, $43 million in stock documents were traded during January, which is 123% more than the amount reported for the same month in 2018, contrasting with the negative variations that have been registered since the political crisis began in April 2018.
The figures from the Nicaraguan Stock Exchange show that between January 2019 and the same month in 2020, stock market negotiations grew by $24 million, from $19 million to $43 million.
Businessmen in the sector say that for the last two years the theft of livestock and illegal slaughtering of animals has been on the rise.
Representatives of the Federation of Livestock Associations of Nicaragua (Faganic) reported that another situation that affects them is the shortage of credit for producers.
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