Despite mounting economic woes, the Costa Rican government managed to increase its financial surplus for the first seven months of the year to about $275 million, the Finance Ministry announced yesterday.

A surplus occurs when government revenues surpass government expenses, including interest payments on the public debt.

The surplus is triple what the government had last year during the same stretch.

The government collected 40.1 percent more in income taxes in the first seven months of this year, compared with the same period last year, as well as 23.9 percent more in customs taxes and 22.6 percent more in sales taxes.

Meanwhile, spending increased just 17.4 percent, the ministry said.

The ministry said deeper pockets will allow the government to better face what are normally bigger bills in the second half of the year, which include salary increases and the a guinaldo – a bonus paid to workers in December equal to a month's salary.

“These results from the month of July confirm that one of our country's strengths is its fiscal situation, as has been recognized in recent weeks by one of the principal international risk qualifiers,” Finance Minister Guillermo Zúñiga said.

Last week, Moody's Investor Services raised its outlook for Costa Rica from stable to positive.