In the first half of 2017, the Ministry of Finance placed debt at ¢ 1.16 trillion, 22% more than announced in January (¢ 950 billion). 51% was placed in installments for more than 10 years.
The government’s total debt to June 2017 exceeded ¢15 billion. This means that debt grew by 7% between December and the sixth month of the year. The largest growth occurred in domestic debt (8%), which represents 78% of the total debt: 52.6% in colones, 8.3% in development units, 38.4% in dollars and 0.7% in other currencies.
Mauricio Arroyo, national sub-treasurer, explained that for the second half of the year, Hacienda plans to borrow for a similar amount: ¢ 1,1 trillion , of which 266,000 million have already been placed.
The entity ruled out that the confused announcements of the Presidency on the fiscal issue have had an effect on the debt holders.
During the first half of the year, the Central Bank reduced its bond portfolio by ¢ 250 billion. Thus, the balance of bonds fell from ¢ 2.4 billion to ¢ 2.1 million.
The Monetary Authority announced that the rest of the year will remain active in the market, but with issues with medium term maturities.
Central Bank debt as a percentage of GDP went from 7.71% to 6.12% between December and June. The Finance Ministry and the Central Bank jointly announced their debt plans for the rest of the year.