Costa Ricans Full of
Credit Card Debt
Costa Rican consumers
have greatly overused
their credit cards,
especially in the last
year.
According to the data
provided by the
Superintendencia General
de Entidades Financieras
de Costa Rica (SUGEF)-
Financial Entities
Superintendent General’s
Office - Ticos are in
debt up to ˘400 billion
colones.
The financial
superintendent says that
719.000 Costa Ricans are
in possession of credit
cards, which represents
about 1/3 of the
workforce.
Also, they estimate that
the number is larger
than that because the
data does not include
the amount indebted on
cards not issued by
intermediaries, but by
those financial
institutions that only
give loans.
The amount of debt has
increased 29% from 2006
to 2008.
Of the ˘400,000 million
around ˘47,000 are
overdue debts, due to
the high interest rates
that have made debtors
unable to face the
amount they owe.
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