Costa Rican banks are to take measures including lowering interest rates

and extending credit terms, in accordance with a directive from the Costa Rican Banking Association (ABC). The initial guidelines were issued for state banks but will also be applied to private banks “to contribute to the recovery of the national economy”, according to ABC president Álvaro Saborío.

At the time of writing, Costa Rica has 201 cases of COVID-19. There have been two deaths and two recoveries reported.

We have adapted this fortnight’s edition of Central American Briefing to reflect the near total disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic to politics, the economy, and society in Central America, as in the rest of the world. We set out a country-by-country update on new developments in responding to the pandemic, as well as a few upcoming projects.

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