The government insists on defending its plan to reactivate the national economy. This Sunday, in national television network, the government reiterated the actions announced to generate jobs and conditions for greater economic growth.
The actions were presented on Friday in the Presidency by the economic team chaired by the Minister of Planning, Pilar Garrido.
Some of the measures are:
-The Executive Power will issue a decree to establish a limit to deductions or withholdings on the untouchable minimum wage, except as provided by law. According to the Presidency, every fortnight, between 30,000 and 35,000 public employees receive a lower-than-minimum liquid salary. The application of this decree would release between ¢5 billion and ¢7 billion, with the employees of the Ministry of Public Education and the Ministry of Public Security being the most benefited, representing 87% of those affected.
-A bill will be presented so that the Ministry of Public Education can build in schools and / or lands whose title deed is not in their name and a decree will be issued to accelerate the process of public investment that takes into account technical rigor, so that a more expeditious endorsement can be given to projects that require authorization to start the preinvestment phase, obtain internal or external resources for financing, or to start the execution phase.
-Decrees will be issued to reduce authorization times for companies in free zones, such as the authorization of the auxiliary of the public customs function from 238 days to three days and the reduction of 147 days to 14 days of the processing and granting of the Free Zone Regime in PROCOMER, COMEX, Laws and Decrees and Presidency.
In July, the Central Bank of Costa Rica (BCCR) drew a daunting scenario for the national economy for the remainder of the year. It announced that this year the economy will grow less than expected, due to the slowdown that the country is going through. At the beginning of the year, the BCCR projected a 3.2% growth in production; however, due to the slow economic development it now expects 2.2 %% for December.