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COSTA RICA |
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Decrease In Income Remains
(InfoWebPress) The results of the Central
Government’s accounts show a reduction in
income of 8.4% in the first eight months of
this year, in relation to the same period
last year.
According to figures from the Ministry of
Finance, the total spending grew 21.7%,
motivated mostly by the increase in income,
due to the different adjustments that have
been made over the year, and from the
transfers from the Superior Education Fund
(FEES for it’s initials in Spanish). The
income reflects an accumulated growth of
32.1% up till the month of August in
comparison to the same period in 2008. Also,
the item “other spending” increased a 15.2%
and the resources destined to pension
payments increased 18.1% in the first 8
months of 2009 in comparison to the same
period in the year 2008.
The resources destined to financing of the
FEES grew 39.4% in this period, in
comparison to the total as of August of last
year, increasing the growth of the rest of
the spending items, as well as the growth
forecasts of the gross domestic product for
2009, even for the original forecasts of
growth at the moment of generating the
budget forecasts.
About the behavior of the main income ítems,
it can be called out that what was charged
regarding items of “other tax income”, grew
5.2%, while what was collected from sales
tax (internal) grew by 1.4% and what was
collected by consumer tax (internal) grew by
7.7%. In contrast, the income regarding
income tax decreased by 6% and what was
collected by customs was reduced by 21% up
to the month of August of 2009, in
comparison with the same period in 2008.
As it has been pointed out beforehand, the
main cause in the decrease of collection is
the fall in imports and consequently the
loss of tax income for this same reason. The
Ministry of Finance, Jenny Phillips, pointed
out that “if by the accumulated amount that
is shown up to the month of August, the
income from customs would have been the same
as in the year 2008, the total fall in
collecting income would have been just about
0.4%. It is vital for the recovery of said
income, that the economic activity be more
dynamic and that these dynamics reach the
consumer level and importing of goods from
the exterior. The Government has been
worried about implementing a spending policy
that stimulates economic activity, by the
increase in social spending and public
investment, and avoiding in this manner a
greater decrease in production.
The heirarch of Finance reiterated her call
to the members of congress for the quick
approval of the project that would allow
temporarily financing regular spending with
dept, fundamental for coping with the
effects of the financial crisis of the
Government’s spending and avoid a fiscal
closure with further complications. Also,
she pointed out that the importance that
this needed to be approved in parallel with
the proposal of a special budget sent to the
Legislative Assembly, or there will be
problems financing some of the running costs
in the last months of the year.
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