Fuel prices

Aside from their opinions about RECOPE's monopoly, candidates agreed on most of the other economic issues discussed at the debate.

RECOPE officials say opening the fuel market could have a negative impact on fuel supply in the country.

RECOPE's ongoing fuel-setting requests led citizen group “Ya no más RECOPE" (No more RECOPE) to call for a public demonstration to request for the opening of the fuel distribution market in Costa Rica.

ARESEP approved the new fuel prices on Monday and they went into effect on Tuesday when the agency published them in the official newspaper La Gaceta.

The first fuel price adjustment should have been approved by Oct. 28, while the one filed last week should have been ready within the next two weeks; however, there's no telling how long the process will now take.

Prices of premium and regular unleaded gasoline will drop by ₡24 and ₡22 per liter respectively this week, thanks to a new fuel price setting approved by the Public Services Regulatory Authority (ARESEP).

Business chambers, citizens and lawmakers asked the Supreme Court to overturn a ruling allowing RECOPE to include costs of non-salary perks in fuel prices.

Costa Rica's executive branch is criticizing changes to the method used for setting fuel prices as proposed by the Public Services Regulatory Authority (ARESEP), arguing the move would increase prices of other products, particularly cooking gas.

The public services regulator approved a 6.7 percent cut in electricity rates for customers of the Costa Rican Electricity Institute starting in January.

The Costa Rican Oil Refinery (RECOPE) finally had some good news for motorists as its most recent projections show fuel prices next year will remain similar to those registered this month.