Costa Rican entrepreneurs expect hiring to stagnate while the number of private-sector companies considering staff cuts has increased in recent months, two recent studies find.
Costa Rica in 2014 earned some $3.6 million by selling its surplus electricity to other Central American countries, ARESEP reported. Business leaders hope ICE will again sell excess hydroenergy to neighboring countries, and in turn, lower electrity costs in Costa Rica.
Fitch Ratings downgraded its outlook on Costa Rica’s sovereign debt from “stable” to “negative” in a statement released Thursday morning. Despite the negative outlook, Fitch maintained its BB+ rating for the debt.
Leaders of Costa Rica’s food industry on Tuesday reported that their production has increased by only 1.79 percent this year, a low figure that has prevented the sector from growing or creating new jobs. It also increases uncertainty for next year, they said.
The optimism that followed the inauguration of President Luis Guillermo Solís last May has since dissipated among the country’s business sector, according to the latest study by consulting firm Deloitte, released Monday.
The halls were decked with lights and wreaths at the offices of the Union of Private-Sector Chambers and Associations but there was little holiday cheer in the group’s latest business survey. Over 60 percent of businesses surveyed in the report said that they did not plan to hire any new employees in 2015, according to results released Wednesday.
As the strike in Costa Rica's Caribbean port city of Limón stretched into its tenth day, importers and exporters are struggling to meet their obligations to customers, according to several sources consulted by The Tico Times. Despite the port remaining open, the ongoing strike has created an administrative backlog that has delayed some shipments by as much as 72 hours.
