The proceeds from these sales of the Bank of Costa Rica (BCR) and the International Bank would be allocated to the CCSS’s Old Age, Disability, and Death (IVM) pension fund, the presidential hopeful added during an interview with Teletica.com.

“I would sell both banks,” Fernandez emphasized, “so that the proceeds from the sale could capitalize the CCSS’s pension system,” an institution defended by the public and many human rights organizations for its more widely recognized health and social security functions compared to those of the state.

The presidential candidate for the PPS, a party considered economically liberal and socially conservative, suggested that the Central Reserve Bank (BCR) could be sold “for at least $1.8 billion.”

These and other local proposals to sell public banks for this purpose —the television station notes— have precedents in initiatives such as that of President Rodrigo Chaves, at the beginning of his administration in 2022, which aimed at doing that same thing with the National Insurance Institute (INS).

The Costa Rican Social Security Fund (CCSS), also known as “La Caja” or “El Seguro,” is an autonomous institution with health facilities and branches in the country’s main cities, designed to serve the working population through a tripartite financing system.

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