IMF and Costa Rica reach an agreement for support
Both agencies reached a middle ground for technical personnel in the region to carry out necessary policies
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) reached a technical staff level agreement with Costa Rica on the necessary policies to complete the first and second reviews of the program of the Central American country supported by the multilateral organization.
In March 2021, the IMF approved a loan of 1,778 million dollars in 36 months in favor of Costa Rica. The country then agreed to 296.5 million dollars, but the Fund required some policies in order to continue disbursing resources.
As reported by the agency in a statement, a mission led by Manuela Goretti held virtual meetings with the Costa Rican authorities from February 22 to March 3, as a continuation of the talks held in October 2021. After the meetings of these last few days, the IMF Executive Board is expected to analyze the case in the coming weeks.
During these meetings, the IMF authorities have made “important progress as part of their economic program”, so that the goals set by both parties for December 2021 were “comfortably” met.
The Washington-based institution refers to the approval of the Public Employment Law by Congress last Tuesday. According to the Fund, this represents “an important advance to improve the fairness and efficiency of public administration.” In addition, the Fund highlights the measures carried out to strengthen social protection networks and improve compliance with tax goals.
On the other hand, the body led by Kristalina Georgieva highlighted the country’s “proactive” response to the pandemic, although it has warned that the appearance of new variants of Covid, as well as higher international prices of raw materials and conditions more rigid global financial markets, including due to growing geopolitical tensions, present downside risks to the outlook for the Costa Rican economy.
Source: dpa
