The Finance and Special Budget Committee of the Legislative Assembly issued a favorable opinion today for the bill containing the 2025 General State Budget, which amounts to $9.663 billion. For the first time, this budget does not involve issuing debt for current expenditure.

The opinion was approved after hearing from officials from various government departments, who explained the allocation of public resources as well as what has been executed in 2024.

The priority areas will continue to be education, health, security, and defense, as they will receive 37% of the total budget, amounting to $3.609 billion. Education will receive $1.535 billion for projects under the “Crecer Juntos” (Grow Together) Law, the “Crecer y Aprender Juntos” (Grow and Learn Together) program, the “Mi Nueva Escuela” (My New School) program, the Digital Gap Reduction initiative, Quality and Coverage Improvement for the “Nacer, Crecer y Aprender” (Be Born, Grow and Learn) program, among others.

Health will receive $1.170 billion to strengthen the “Creciendo Saludables Juntos” (Growing Healthy Together) program and Integrated Health, improve infrastructure and equipment for hospitals and health centers, and other areas. Meanwhile, security and defense will receive $903.4 million.

An allocation of $1.700 billion will go to the Annual Public Investment Program.

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CEL

The Government of Costa Rica expressed satisfaction after being accepted as a candidate to join the Pacific Alliance, a bloc in which the Central American country hopes to boost its economy and promote exports.

“We are convinced that with eventual membership in this trade bloc, we will promote the dynamization of our economy and the generation of jobs,” said Costa Rican Minister of Foreign Trade, Manuel Tovar, in a statement. The official emphasized that joining the Pacific Alliance would lead to increased and facilitated intra-regional trade and investment, while also allowing Costa Rica to project itself to the world as a bloc for the promotion of exports, investment, and the strengthening of regional value chains.

The Council of Ministers of the bloc, meeting in Santiago, Chile, approved Costa Rica’s candidacy for full membership, although a special protocol must still be developed in 2025 to finalize the Central American country’s accession.

The Costa Rican government explained that with the guidance of a roadmap created by the working group responsible for the matter, it will follow a process of exchange with the Pacific Alliance to agree on the Protocol in the coming year.

A fire destroyed around 100 small businesses in a popular market in Honduras’ capital early Friday, according to firefighters.

The blaze at the Las Américas Market broke out around 1:00 a.m. local time (07:00 GMT), but the alarm was not raised until hours later, explained fire department spokesperson Oscar Triminio. The flames were brought under control after sunrise.

“When we arrived, we saw it was a large-scale fire in an area where shoe shops, clothing vendors, and general merchandise sellers operate,” Triminio stated. He estimated that around 100 shops were destroyed.

The fire caused no casualties but resulted in significant financial losses for the merchants, he added.