QCOSTARICA – What can businesses do in Costa Rica to avoid the impact of the dollar exchange rate? The sectors that are suffering the most are tourism, free zones, the export sector and local producers who compete against imported goods and are losing competitiveness day by day.
For its part, the Unión Costarricense de Cámaras y Asociaciones del Sector Empresarial Privado (UCCAEP) – Costa Rican Union of Chambers and Associations of the Private Business Sector, has once again made a call on the Banco Central de Costa Rica (BCCR) – Central Bank – to intervene to prevent further drops.
“Due to the large variations in the price of the dollar, it is necessary to express the concern of a large part of the productive sector that has been seriously affected by this situation,” the UCCAEP stated.
This week, the sell for the U.S. dollar reached its lowest point in seven years. The reference rate set by the Central Bank for this Friday is ¢552.56, while the buy is ¢544.78.
At the banks, both state and private, the sell rate this morning ranges between ¢556 and ¢558, and the buy ¢530 and ¢542.
In a Webinar organized by Lead University, the Manager of the Central Bank, Hazel Valverde, said that there is a mechanism called ‘forewards’, which are agreements to buy or sell a specific amount of a currency at a certain future date, at a price set at the time of signing the contract.
The Manager of the Central Bank added that the variation in the dollar exchange is not so abrupt if compared over time, and while there is concern about the behavior of the exchange rate, the priority is to control inflation.
According to Valverde, the behavior of the exchange rate returned to the levels it had prior to the Covid-19 pandemic.
