The dollar fell to another all-time low on Costa Rica’s Foreign Exchange Market (Monex) on Wednesday. The drop extends a slide that is steadily shrinking the purchasing power of residents whose income arrives in U.S. currency. The session’s weighted average closed at ¢446.93 per dollar, according to the Central Bank of Costa Rica (BCCR).
That was ¢0.41 below Monday’s ¢447.34 and marked the fifth consecutive trading session to set a record. Trading was paused over the weekend and for the September 15 Independence Day holiday. The streak began on September 9, when the rate fell to ¢448.17 and broke a low that had stood since August, as The Tico Times reported when the dollar hit a new record low in Costa Rica.
The declines are small day to day, but they add up for households that convert dollars into colones every month. A retiree converting a $2,000 monthly pension would have received ¢899,940 at the September 8 rate of ¢449.97. At Wednesday’s rate, the same transfer yields ¢893,860, a difference of ¢6,080 in just over a week. Rent paid in colones, utility bills, groceries at the feria and domestic staff wages do not fall when the dollar does. As a result, the gap comes directly out of discretionary spending.
The figures also understate the effect at the bank counter. The Monex weighted average is a wholesale benchmark. The rate banks pay customers who sell dollars typically sits several colones lower.
Remote workers paid in U.S. dollars and property owners who collect rent in dollars face the same squeeze. Tourists notice it as well: a restaurant bill of ¢10,000 now costs roughly $22.37, up from about $22.22 on September 8. The per-meal difference is modest, but it compounds over a two-week vacation and over years of dollar-based retirement budgeting in Costa Rica.
The trend works in the opposite direction for anyone holding colones. Businesses and individuals buying dollars for imports, travel abroad, or dollar-denominated loan payments now need fewer colones to cover the same obligations.
The Central Bank continued to intervene on Wednesday, purchasing $24.7 million through stabilization operations. BCCR stabilization purchases in September now total $133.7 million: $41.1 million on September 9, $2.8 million on September 10, $65.1 million on September 14 and $24.7 million on Wednesday. Stabilization purchases for 2026 have reached $1.14 billion, with no sales recorded in that category.
The BCCR uses these operations to moderate abrupt swings in the exchange rate, not to set a target level. The bank has said repeatedly this year that an extraordinary increase in the foreign exchange surplus has put additional downward pressure on the dollar. Wednesday’s session moved $58.9 million across 255 transactions.
For dollar earners, the practical question is whether the slide continues. The Central Bank’s steady purchases have slowed the decline without reversing it. Market conditions throughout 2026 have been marked by abundant dollar supply, and nothing in the latest data points to an imminent change. Residents who budget in dollars may want to review how much of their cost of living in Costa Rica is tied to colón-priced expenses.
