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Workers See Little Benefit
Costa Rica boasts of her best
economic indicators in many
years, but a majority of workers
feel that they have not
benefited from it.
The Gross Domestic Product (GDP)
increased by 5.9 percent last
year and 7 percent this year’s
first six months, as compared to
the same period in 2005.
This year, direct foreign
investment is likely to reach
us$1 billion for the first time,
while the Central Bank reserves
of hard currency reached a
record us$2.74 billion in April.
The fiscal deficit – the excess
spending over income in the
public sector – was 2.3 percent
of the GDP at the end of 2005,
the best performance in seven
years.
Meanwhile, real salaries –not
including inflation – dropped
3.8 percent last April, as
compared to the same month in
2005.
Moreover, the average monthly
income of workers decreased by
3.6 percent in 2005, as compared
to 2004, according to the
Household Survey of the National
Bureau of Statistics and Census.
Along the same lines,
unemployment remains at one of
its highest levels in a decade,
6.6 percent, and poverty reached
11 years of stagnation at 20
percent of all families.
According to analysts, the good
performance of the GDP does not
translate in improvement for
workers because most of the
growth is profits for
foreigners, and therefore leave
the country.
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