Revenues from the Social Protection Board (JPS) declined by $63m during 2020 due to the pandemic, according to information from the Comptroller General of the Republic (CGR) of Costa Rica.
The JPS was affected by the suspension of several different lottery draws and by a drop in sales.
Specifically, the social protection sector was the second most affected in terms of revenue, according to Monumental. In 2020, the cost of social protection services was $690m, or approximately 1% of Costa Rica’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
JPS Spokesperson Elizabeth Badilla said: “To address the impact that the pandemic had on sales, the JPS implemented new options to market the products, such as our online site JPSenlinea.com, which takes some of the pre-printed lottery that is not taken by sellers and commercializes it in a digital format.”
Badilla also commented that the JPS trained vendors during the pandemic and developed new gaming options, adding: “The institution is aware that its obligation is to generate resources for the 500 social programs that have in our institution the greatest financial support to continue providing services to vulnerable people.”
Marta Acosta, Comptroller General, said: “The main public services impacted by this are the health sector and social protection services. This cost is higher than all the spending on public investment made in 2019.”
“As said, this is a starting point because this figure is far from being completed. We identified four different ways to finance this cost: loans to support the central government’s budget, surpluses, transfer of resources between institutions and disinvestment,” she added.
