IBRD Loan: US$500 million
TERMS: Maturity = 30 years; Grace = 5 years
Project Description: The Public Finance and Competitiveness Development Policy Loan with Deferred Draw-Down Option in Costa Rica operation seeks to assist the government in addressing public financing needs to implement actions that strengthen public revenue generation capacity and fiscal transparency, improve secondary education attainment and enhance competitiveness to sustain growth. It is expected to play an important role in the Government’s contingency plan to cover potential financing gaps in the event that the global economic and financial environment worsens significantly, threatening the implementation of important reforms and undermining the capacity to sustain key social programs.
Key outcomes include an improvement in tax revenues as a percent of GDP, an expansion in the number of beneficiaries of the ‘Avancemos” program, decrease in the secondary drop-out rate, and an increase in the number of telecom operators and insurance providers competing in Costa Rica.
