A Good Time To Buy a House Or Car
According to a inquiry by the Confianza del Consumidor (Consumer Confidence) of the Escuela de Estadísticas de la Universidad de Costa Rica, between the February 1 and 9 of this year, consumer confidence has grown in the past six months.

Johnny Madrigal, co-ordinator of the inquiry, said that in no other prior inquiry had they seen such optimism as it is found now, adding that many Costa Ricans believe now is a good time to make an important purchase like a home or vehicle.

Madrigal explains that low inflation, stable gasoline prices in 2006 and government policies are some of the factors for the high confidence level.

"It is true that we are in a boom what we see, however, is the injection of optimism in consumers, that in the last six months we have seen an increment of 14 points", explained Madrigal.

The expert said that consumer confidence increased in all levels and social status, who see a better economic outlook in the short term.

According to the UCR study, optimism in consumers grew while pessimism fell. Those polled by the investigators believe that the rate of consumer interest will continue to fall and have confidence that salaries will continue to grow during the next 12 months.

The economic policies of the government were also measured. "26% of the respondents said that the government is doing a poor job on the economy, however, 42% said that the government is on the right track, that is, bettering the quality of the people in charge of economic policies of the actual administration", said Madrigal.

The investigation also revealed that 37% of the respondents believe that unemployment will fall during the next 12 months as well as poverty.

This indication is better than the inquiry done three months earlier.