Government
"Will Pay" Aguinaldo
The ministro de la Presidencia, Rodrigo
Arias, assured yesterday that this year's "aguinaldo"
(Christmas bonus) will be paid to all public
employees as established by law that
obligates every employer - public or private
- to pay to its employees between December 1
and 20 of each year.
The statement followed the announcement the
day ealier by the ministerio de Hacienda
(Finance ministry) that the government
doesn't have the financial resources to pay
the aguinaldo, salaries and pensions at the
end of the year due to a shortfall because
of a drop in tax revenue.
The government, by law, is prohibited from
increasing debt to pay for "current
expenses". The aguinaldo and salaries are
deemed current expenses.
Minister Arias assures that the government
will find a way to pay the some ¢500 billion
colones plus obligation, but wasn't specific
of the how or where he would find the cash.
The aguinaldo is equal to, for simplicity,
the average of month's pay (or a fraction
thereof) of the salary earned by an employee
between December 1, 2008 and November 30,
2009.
The aguinaldo is an important source of
income for most Costa Ricans, as it
represents either a savings for a few, but a
spending spree for a happy Christmas.
The government employs some 119.000 which
will share the ¢104 billion dollars
obligation by the government, while some
700.000 private sector employees will share
¢815 billion colones.
Editor's Note: Hey, maybe the Chinese can
be talked into making another donation,
after all what's another few billion colones
when they are already spreading around
zillions in Costa Rica. |
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