In context of International Women’s Day, Costa Rican leaders on Monday signed a decree to create a commission to address the country’s gender unemployment gap.
The objective of this commission is “to seek inter-institutional and inter-sectoral articulation, dialogue and the establishment of public-private agreements, as well as the formulation and implementation of policies, strategic actions and government programs aimed at promoting the equal participation of women in productive processes, to generate inclusive economic growth, gender equity and the eradication of economic poverty,” according to the decree.
The document was signed by President Carlos Alvarado, as well as by the Ministers of the Status of Women, Marcela Guerrero; of Economy, Industry and Commerce, Victoria Hernández; of Public Education, Guiselle Cruz; and of Labor and Social Security, Silvia Lara.
Costa Rica, which has already started its vaccination campaign against Covid-19, will have a gradual economic recovery from 2021, conditional on Congress approving a fiscal adjustment negotiated with the IMF, the Central Bank anticipated on Friday.
The Costa Rican economy, which contracted 4.5% in 2020 due to the impact of the pandemic, will grow 2.6% this year and 3.6% in 2022, said the president of the Central Bank (BCCR), Rodrigo Cubero, when presenting the annual macroeconomic program in a teleconference.
He also predicted that the fiscal deficit, which last year reached the historic figure of 8.1% of GDP, will be around 7% this year and 5.9% in 2022.
The BCCR maintained the inflation target of 3% per year for the coming years, although in 2020 it closed at 0.9%.