The debt has fallen eight percentage points of gross domestic product (GDP) in the past two years, Costa Rica's Finance Ministry reported. Next year will see renewed efforts to renegotiate part of the debt in order to lower interest rates and push back payment deadlines.
Finance Minister Guillermo Zúñiga said that in 2006 Costa Rica's debt dipped down 3.5 percentage points and in 2007, another 4.5 points, putting the debt equal to 46% of GDP.
Costa Rica's GDP is close to $21 billion.
“There are a couple of positive factors at work like the national reserves, stable interest rates in Europe and a downward trend in the United States, and now we could take advantage of the situation to make our expensive debt cheaper,” Zúñiga told the news agency ACAN-EFE.
Meanwhile, November ended with a fiscal surplus of almost $59 million thanks to a 27.4% rise in income, the Finance Ministry told The Associated Press, adding that next year's results would be even better.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) recently forecast Costa Rica's economy to grow 5% next year. “That's not bad,” Zúñigo told the AP, describing the IMF's prediction, “but I'm more optimistic.” |
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