LatinNews Daily - 08 February 2023

* Costa Rica’s finance ministry has released new figures which show that the country closed 2022 with a deficit of ¢1.11trn (US$1.90bn) – equivalent to 2.5% of GDP. The finance ministry said that the 2022 figure was the lowest in a decade, and followed nine years of fiscal deficits exceeding 5% of GDP. It also highlights that this was despite interest payments on debt which were equivalent to ¢2.0trn or 4.6% of GDP, which it says is the highest of the last 17 years. Finance Minister Nogui Acosta Jaén also highlighted that for the first time in 13 years, the country registered a primary surplus – of ¢927.3bn, which it said was equivalent to 2.1% of GDP. Acosta Jaén said that the latest figures “strengthen the credibility of the country’s fiscal policy management” and “secure the path towards sustainability of public finances”. Acosta underlines that these are within targets set with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), with which Costa Rica has a US$1.78bn Extended Fund Facility (EFF) arrangement agreed in 2021 under the previous government led by former president Carlos Alvarado (2018-2022). The finance ministry also noted that central government debt totalled ¢28.2trn, (63.4% of GDP) – less than the target agreed with the IMF of ¢29.5trn.

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