Costa Rica News – Costa Rica’s fiscal deficit was rising throughout 2013. In November, it reached 4.6% of the GDP, the gross domestic product. The year was full of inequality and economic decline, although the country was able to decrease its deficit from the year before, which was at 5.1%
Poverty statistics are improving, as are those for unemployment in Costa Rica, according to official sources. The main problem to tackle in 2014 will be the fiscal deficit.
The Ministry of Finance indicated that November’s fiscal deficit rate of 4.6% is above the average for the earlier part of the year, 4.4%
The December figures are not in yet, but the Central bank estimated that it would show 5.1% and, without putting forth a strong effort, that it will rise to 6.3% in 2014.
The issue is being debated among presidential candidates. Johnny Araya, Jose Maria Villalta, and Luis Guillermo Solis agree that tax reform is needed, as are stronger tools for collecting taxes.
In 2013, the economic slowdown in the U.S. and the European Union negatively affected all sectors, with the exception of private construction (up 6.9%) and tourism, with a 2.7% growth in number of visitors. One of the positive financial aspects of 2014 was that inflation closed between 3.8 and 4.1%, the second lowest in four decades.
