American Expatriate Costa Rica

Costa Rican Economy: the good, the bad and the ugly

Regarding Costa Rican economy, there are good, bad and ugly news.

The good news:

The economists recognize a controlled inflation, a growth higher than the one of the country’s main trading partners, a fiscal deficit lower than the expected and low interest rates among others.

The prices will stop rising compared to some decades ago, because economic experts believe so. (in economics, it is called a self-fulfilling prophecy).

Sectors such as agriculture and industry, that had been left behind, are finally seeing the light at the end of the tunnel, thanks to less weather events and to the rise of medical devices instead of electronic components, respectively,

said Greivin Hernández, economist at the National University.

The bad news:

An unstoppable fiscal deficit, which is financed by a rising public debt and dollars high debt, threatens the non-revenue generating companies, that use foreign currencies, if there’s depreciation.

The ugly news:

The trimester unemployment report showed stagnation and warned of a workforce’s reduction.

The Central Bank report does not hide the precarious employment situation, it accepts that although in the first quarter of the year, unemployment rates fell to 9.5%, this was due to a reduction of the economically active population, which means that people stopped looking for jobs, “

said the economist.

crhoy.com