Colon Devaluates ˘17 In
One Single Day
The dollar keeps going
up against the Costa
Rican colon and it
appears the trend is not
going to stop anytime
soon. Led by the Banco
Nacional, the dollar
pushed up shortly after
noon yesterday hitting a
record exchange rate of
˘540 colones for the buy
and ˘550 colones for the
sell.
Others banks followed
the trend within
minutes.
Another important point
to note is the
difference between the
buy and sell, hitting a
˘10 colones spread,
breaking the trend of
keeping the spread
between ˘5 and ˘6
colones. At Banco BCT,
the spread was ˘20
colones while the other
private banks has
spreads of between ˘12
and ˘16 colones.
This morning (Tuesday),
the Banco Central de
Costa Rica reacted by
moving the rate to
˘538.91 colones for the
buy and ˘551.31 for
sell, up from ˘526.73
and ˘533.65, a
difference of ˘12.18 and
˘17.66 in one single
day.
The upwards trend began
last week when the
dollar climbed ˘11
colones in four days.
According to figures by
the Banco Central, one
month ago, June 17, the
BCCR buy rate was
˘516.68 and sell
˘523.08, keeping a
steady float until last
Friday.
The increase is due to
higher demand for US
dollars.
Speculation is that the
cause is an increase of
imports, particularly
grains and oil, and a
slowing down of exports
due to the economic
slowdown in the United
States. Other causes
attributed to the move
is the transfer of
investments from dollars
to colones and the
expectation of even
higher devaluation.
The rise in the value of
the dollar against the
colon means that more
colones are required to
pay goods bought in
dollars.
The Banco Central is
calling the fluctuation
normal and is asking
Costa Ricans to remain
calm. The president of
the Banco Central,
Francisco de Paula
Gutiérrez, the central
bank does not intend to
intervene.
The rise in the buying
and selling price of the
dollar benefits those
earning in dollars or
have savings in dollars.
For those earning or
have savings in dollars
and paying items like
rent or a mortgage in
colones benefit by the
trend.
However, that practice
has its risks, like last
November, the Banco
Central intervened to
stop the rise in the
dollar, dropping the buy
rate from ˘521.23 to
˘505.15 overnight. |
