QCOSTARICA – In the first three months of the year imports totaled US$3.679 billion, 18% less than the same period in 2014, due to falling oil prices and lower demand for raw materials for industry.
The reduction in purchases of inputs for the electrical and electronics industry, plus the decline in the oil bill are the main factors accounting for this drop in national imports. As a result the trade balance has also experienced a decline of 21% in the first quarter, compared to the same period last year.
Nacion.com reports that “… The drop in imports of raw materials for the manufacturing industry has mainly been recorded in the free trade zone and is an effect of the closure of the Intel plant. Also local companies require fewer raw materials for production. ” In response, the economist Alberto Franco, adding that “… Prices of other raw materials distinct from those imported by Intel has shown a sustained downward trend. ”
According to the Central Bank of Costa Rica, “… it is the first time there has been a reduction in the trade deficit in the last six years, as the trend was growing.”
Read the report on the economic situation in April 2015.
Source: Nacion.com,
Via Centralamericandata.com
