Costa Rica economy

A majority of consumers surveyed expect increases in interest rates on bank loans, in the dollar exchange rate and in fuel prices during the coming year.

The consensus among Costa Rican government officials: Donald Trump could certainly effect Costa Rica's economy, but the jury's out until he announces his policies.

Costa Rica ranks 32 out of 144 countries in the World Economic Forum (WEF)’s Global
 Gender Gap Report 2016.

Research by the National Institute of Statistics and Censuses found that 20.5 percent of households in Costa Rica live in poverty.

The World Economic Forum ranked Costa Rica fourth in Latin America and second in Central America behind Panama.

The Costa Rican currency, the colón, has been on a slow slide against the the U.S. dollar during the last several months but analysts say it’s unlikely to fall much farther.

What is worrisome is that the President seems to believe that the current financial difficulties can be solved simply by raising taxes; that the fiscal reform comes first, and “we can think of the reform of the State later." Decisions have to be made on many fronts, or we are just going to waste the new taxes with the same old practices.

Costa Rica has a BB+ credit rating with a negative outlook, one step below investment grade, from the rating agency.

For the first time in 50 years, Costa Rica registered a negative inflation rate, at –0.81percent, in 2015.

Consumer optimism about the country’s economic outlook improved slightly in the past three months, according to results of the Consumer Confidence Index released Wednesday by the University of Costa Rica’s School of Statistics.