The Inter-American Development Bank today announced the approval of a $65 million loan to Costa Rica to develop a more secure and modern system of land property rights registration and administration.
The resources will assist the government in establishing a National Cadastre reconciled with the information in the Land Property Registry. The project is designed to promote the systematic formalization of rights to land property, strengthen the use of cadastral information by municipalities, and prevent and resolve efficiently disputes over land property rights.
Upon completion of the program, each of the existing parcels of property in the country, estimated at 1.2 million, is expected to have a single registered record, combining written and graphic information that will ensure its legal and geographic identity.
The program is expected to result in an improved investment climate, reduction of property transaction costs, improved municipal tax collections, better protection of natural resources and, regularization of protected areas and indigenous lands. The program will be carried out by several government agencies coordinated by executing unit of the Ministry of Finance.
The total cost of the program is $92 million. The IDB loan is for a 20-year term, with a 5 year grace period, at the variable annual interest rate, now 7.03 percent. Local counterpart funds total $27 million.