Sharjah24 – AFP: The IMF board on Monday approved a $1.8 billion, three-year loan for Costa Rica to help the government shore up the economy battered like many by the Covid-19 pandemic.
The loan agreement, which allows for an immediate disbursement $296.5 million, is on top of the emergency support provided to the Central American nation in April 2020 $522 million, the International Monetary Fund said in a statement.
"The Costa Rican authorities have responded promptly to the COVID-19 shock, helping avoid a deeper crisis. However, the socio-economic impact of the pandemic has been sizable, weakening its fiscal position and generating a large financing gap," said IMF Deputy Managing Director Mitsuhiro Furusawa.
While the board praised the nation's response the statement cautioned that " the recovery is expected to be protracted" and "risks to the outlook remain elevated given the uncertainty surrounding the pandemic."
The fund estimates the Costa Rican economy will grow by 2.6 percent in 2021, after contracting 4.5 percent last year, including a nearly 41 percent drop in the critical tourism sector.
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