Costa Rica's growing road problem

Costa Rica's road network requires further investments to prevent it from worsening. According to data from the 2536 Ministry of Public Works and Transport (MOPT) some US$200 million/month is required to tackle the issue. This sum is equivalent to 79% of the National Roads Council's (2538 Conavi) annual budget for 2011, which stands at nearly $256 million. The MOPT has acknowledged that such investments would improve the country's competitive edge. At present, the Conavi only spends some $110 million in repairing roads/year. MOPT says that at present a mere 1.5% of the country's gross domestic product (GPD) is spent on transport, although the MOPT hopes this figure will increase to 2.5% until 2035.