QCOSTARICA – Borrowing its way out of the current financial crisis seems to be objective for the Carlos Alvarado government.
Obtaining about US$2.5 billion this year through loans from international organizations is part of the external financing plan, announced Friday, at the last minute, by the Minister of Finance, Elián Villegas.
The announcement was made as the Treasury prepares its intentions to place securities for this first semester.
Of these US$2.5 billion, US$1.75 billion will come from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), disbursed in the payments of about US$583 million each.
Another US$600 million, already before Legislators, are two loans, one from the Banco Internacional de Reconstrucción y Fomento (BRIF) – International Bank for Reconstruction and Development and the other from the Banco Centroamericano (BCIE) – Central American Bank.
There are also others in the process, such as loans from the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and the Development Bank of Latin America (CAF).
“The loans would give us liquidity and also allow us to reduce rates at the market level; if they are not approved, we would have to take stricter measures to control spending, and it would be an inconvenient pressure on the domestic market,” said Elián Villegas.
