Ex-finance minister wins runoff vote to be Costa Rica’s president

Costa Rica’s former finance minister Rodrigo Chaves, after winning a presidential runoff election (Carlos Gonzalez/AP)

A former finance minister who surprised many by making it into Costa Rica’s presidential runoff vote is to become the country’s new leader next month, while still fending off accusations of sexual harassment when he worked at the World Bank.

With nearly all polling stations reporting, conservative economist Rodrigo Chaves had 53% of the vote, compared with 47% for former president Jose Figueres Ferrer, the supreme electoral tribunal said.