Q COSTARICA — Acostúmbrense (Get used to it). That was President Rodrigo Chaves’s response on Wednesday to criticism from various sectors regarding the drop in the dollar exchange rate.
“There was that corner store owner in Paraíso giving advice to everyone: ‘Look, it’s at ¢670, and when Chaves takes office, this is going to collapse.’ Of course, he lost and saddled those who lost, and then he says, ‘It’s outrageous.’ Get used to it. This economy, as Laura Fernández Delgado so wisely said, no longer faces a temporary issue regarding the availability of dollars; it’s because we are becoming increasingly productive. There’s a reason we’re among the world’s high-income nations,” Chaves stated.
In recent weeks, the exchange rate has been trending downward. Today, the official dollar exchange set by the Banco Central de Costa Rica (BCCR)—Central Bank— is ¢470.83 for the buy and ¢475.68 for the sell. At the banks, financial institutions, and exchange houses, as reported to the Central Bank, the range at the national and private banks is from ¢460 to ¢466 for the buy and ¢478 to ¢481 for the sell; At the Juan Santamaria International Airport (SJO), Casa de Cambio Global Exchange posts ¢392 for the buy and ¢566 for the sell.
At the Monex — Mercado de Monedas Extranjeras (Foreign Currency Market), a specialized platform managed by the Central Bank, on Wednesday, the weighted average price of the dollar was ¢472.50, decreased by ¢1.25 compared to the value reached on Tuesday, when it stood at ¢ 473.75.
Most economists agree that the decline is due to an excess of dollars in the foreign exchange market, resulting from export growth, Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) inflows, and seasonal factors such as the peak tourist season.
However, others, such as economist Norberto Zúñiga, a consultant with the firm Ecoanálisis, acknowledged that there has been an increase in some export sectors, particularly medical devices, but clarified that, overall, it has not been very significant.
Fernando Naranjo, president of the firm Consejeros Económicos y Financieros (Cefsa), former Minister of Finance, and who previously held the position of Vice President of the Board of Directors of the Central Bank and served as the General Manager of the country’s largest state-owned bank until 2015, told CRHoy.com the decline in the dollar-colón exchange rate is primarily due to the government’s high external debt in recent years, generating an excess of dollars in the foreign exchange market and, consequently, puts downward pressure on the exchange rate.
Naranjo stated that the Government has been one of those responsible for the fall in the exchange rate by increasing Costa Rica’s external debt. He argued that the abundance of dollars in the foreign exchange market during the first weeks of 2026 is not solely due to the peak tourist season or FDI, because a large part of it corresponds to machinery that comes from abroad and does not generate dollars.
He also noted that it isn’t directly tied to the increase in exports from free trade zones. For exports under the definitive regime (RD), growth last year was only about 1% to 1.5%.
Naranjo pointed out that the eurobond issuances totaling US$3 billion in 2023 and the two one-billion-eurobond issues made by the Government in November 2025 and January of this year, carried out by the Ministry of Finance, generated an excess of dollars in the local market.
“It hasn’t been tourism; exports and foreign direct investment have been limited; but yes, clearly, public debt, which generates an effective outlay of foreign currency and has been quite strong,” the economist stated.
He even indicated that the Treasury acknowledged on Tuesday that, since November of last year, the Government’s debt has once again exceeded 60% of the gross domestic product (GDP).