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This Sunday, April 3, Costa Ricans elect a new president who must take on the challenges around the stability of public finances, the generation of jobs, poverty, and the management of a financial agreement with the International Monetary Fund.
Pure debt. Costa Rica chooses this Sunday between a “change”, promised by the economist Rodrigo Chaves and his new party on the political scene, or the “experience”, proposed by former president José María Figueres, supported by a traditional party.
Without favourites, both candidates arrive with few proposals on the substantive issues that afflict the country and the election is in total uncertainty, since there is no favorite among the population.
“We have a population that does not like the political offer or does not feel represented and rather has negative opinions. The campaign has also fallen into disrepute, it is not about who offers better solutions for the country, but about who is less bad,” explained Gustavo Araya, a political analyst.
Although the Central American country is taken as an example of successful growth and sustained development for more than 25 years, inequality and oil dependence persecute it. Poverty there is 23% of the population and unemployment figures are around 14%.
Agreement with the International Monetary Fund
In 2021, Costa Rica entered into a new financial agreement with the IMF for 1,778 million dollars with periodic disbursements for three years, on the condition that the Government achieves some goals of reducing debt and spending, and increasing revenue.
The deal has also been the focus of the campaign. Chaves promised to renegotiate the agreement with the IMF in relation to the fulfillment of the goals, since he believes that it is not necessary to bet on tax increases. For his part, Figueres said that he will seek adjustments in some proposals presented by the Government to the IMF.
“Additional efforts are needed to improve the country’s tax system, so that it is more equitable, supports a balanced reduction in the fiscal deficit and ensures a more sustainable path for public debt in the medium term,” the IMF said after the signing of the agreement. agreement.
For Juan Carlos Cerdas, a Costa Rican economist, the greatest challenge for his country is the public debt, which covers 70% of Costa Rica’s Gross Domestic Product, although in his opinion, none of the candidates showed any intention of ending it.
“Of each colon of income that the Government obtains, half a colon goes to the payment of interest, which is highly serious for productivity, investment, because we know that those resources could be dedicated to infrastructure, schools, social programs and it is something that has normalized,” says Cerdas.
The economist adds that a good amount of economic resources are wasted in the country because the crisis is not “treated seriously.” “Despite the fact that all these loans from international organizations come at very good terms, at good interest rates. It’s like using a credit card to pay another credit card,” he concluded.
On Sunday, 3.5 million Costa Ricans will be called to the polls to elect the president for the 2022-2026 period.
with EFE
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