*The International Monetary Fund (IMF)’s executive board has announced that it has concluded the sixth review under the Extended Fund Facility (EFF) for Costa Rica, allowing for a disbursement equivalent to about US$270m. It also announced the conclusion of the third review under Costa Rica’s Resilience and Sustainability Facility (RSF) arrangement, making available about US$270m in support of Costa Rica’s climate change agenda. The agreement is subject to approval by the IMF Executive Board. An IMF statement highlights that “The end-2023 fiscal targets under the programme were met with a comfortable margin, the authorities are expected to increase the primary balance this year, and debt is on track to fall below 60% of GDP by end-2025”. However, it highlights that “capital spending unfortunately continues to be under executed”. The IMF is forecasting real GDP growth to “remain robust at 4% this year”. It adds that headline inflation has been rising, albeit unevenly, and IMF staff project it will reach the lower end of the Costa Rican central bank (BCCR)’s tolerance range (2-4%) around the end of this year.
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