Alvarado has called the unemployment rate — recently tallied at 11.3% of the economically active population — as the most serious economic problem in Costa Rica.
Alvarado also expressed his concern about unemployment, which last year reached 12% of the economically active population, the highest rate in recent years.
Costa Rica’s top diplomat in Washington and the World Bank’s top regional official agree on just about everything: President Luis Guillermo Solís – in office now for seven months – must cut spending, boost tax collection and cut the nation’s fiscal deficit-to-GDP ratio, which appears unsustainable in the long run.
Costa Rica’s former two-term President Óscar Arias Sánchez (1986-1990 and 2006-2010) hasn’t even waited a full year before twice publicly criticizing the new administration of Luis Guillermo Solís, who once belonged to Arias’ political party, the National Liberation Party, and was a member of the 1980s peace delegation that helped end the wars in Central America and delivered Arias a Nobel Peace Prize.
“I will tell them that those who fail to meet our expectations for management will be fired on May 1,” President Luis Guillermo Solís said, referring to his Cabinet ministers and public agency presidents.
Last week, some 350 people attended an economic forum at Costa Rica’s Hotel Barceló San José Palacio hosted by the business magazine Summa. The forum, titled “Costa Rica: Where Are We Going?” featured panels of experts and insiders who examined issues such as the country’s economic growth, its fiscal deficit and setting the economy back on track. But they also focused on politics – and one particular party. (Hint, it wasn't Liberation.)
Representatives of the Costa Rican Restaurants Chamber warned this week that restaurant owners could face liquidity problems due to a 2 percent charge that banks will assess on all dining payments made with credit and debit cards.
