Costa Rica announces multi-million dollar investment to stimulate economy and jobs

The Costa Rican government announced on Friday a public investment of $9.526 billion dollars as part of a strategy to boost the economy and reduce high levels of unemployment.

The investment will go to road, educational, airport and hospital infrastructure projects, as well as energy, health, safety and justice projects, said Minister of Planning and Economic Policy, Pilar Garrido.

“The most important national challenge is for Costa Rica to generate more jobs, grow more and improve the situation of all households,” said President Carlos Alvarado when presenting the National Growth, Employment and Welfare Strategy.

The plan was announced in times of concern about the weak growth of the Costa Rican economy and high unemployment rates.

Last July, the Central Bank revised downward the growth projection for this year, to 2.2% from an initial forecast of 3.2%, while unemployment reached 11.9% in the second quarter of 2019.

Garrido explained that, in addition to public investment, the strategy includes actions to stimulate private investment by streamlining procedures to open businesses and credits for small tourism businesses.

It also includes actions to promote the hiring of unemployed people and the simplification of procedures that make employment formalization difficult.