Dollar exchange rate reaches highest price in seven years

The exchange rate of the Costa Rican colón against the dollar reached ₡581.90 (to sell) and ₡569.26 (to buy) on Thursday, the highest since January 2010.

The new record stood for only a day: on Friday, the Central Bank of Costa Rica (BCCR) reported a ₡583.37 / ₡570.71 price, the new seven-year high.

Since the start of the year, financial markets have predicted that the colón this year would face increased pressure to dip against the dollar. Central Bank officials have attributed the upward trend this year mostly to external influences, including uncertainty over economic measures issued by the new administration of U.S. President Donald Trump and to the U.S. Federal Reserve’s decisions about its base rates.

The Central Bank earlier this year reported that the exchange rate depreciated by 3.4 percent in 2016, and that the figure for this year could be very similar.

Solís will not intervene

President Luis Guillermo Solís said Thursday said at a public event in San José that he trusts the way the BCCR is handling the exchange rate of the dollar. He said the bank is “an autonomous agency outside political decisions” and noted that he has never intervened in the face of abrupt changes in the exchange rate.

“The whole country witnessed that I’ve said the Central Bank has all necessary instruments for properly handling currency policies, even at times when the dollar recorded its lowest prices,” the president said.

Solís also ruled out meeting with BCCR officials to intervene in their exchange rate policies.

“I’m not going to meet with any bank officials. If I do, people will say that I am manipulating their decisions. I trust Central Bank officials,” he said.