Customs union 'needs Costa Rica to be member'

The next member of the customs union of the Northern Triangle nations ought to be Costa Rica because it amounts to almost a quarter of the region's total exports, said Jonathan Menkos, head of the Central American Fiscal Studies Institute (Icefi).

But he admits that it would be premature to think about that possibility, he added.

This week El Salvador sealed its membership of the customs union, whose original founders were Guatemala and Honduras. Now the three nations account for 47.9 percent of Central America's GDP.