Only 5% of Costa Ricans approve of government’s economic policy

November 30^th, 2012 (InsideCostaRica.com) Costa Rican consumer confidence remains at a standstill. The Christmas season, “Aguinaldo” (extra month’s payment in December), nor vacations, have so far been able to revert the trend of the past 6 months.

The Consumer Confidence Index, measured by specialists at the University of Costa Rica, said that in November, the index received a grade of 40 points on a scale of 1 to 100.

The researcher, Johnny Madrigal, said that such a grade is abnormal, as the “Christmas season effect” typically helps to elevate consumer confidence towards the end of the year. Costa Rican consumer confidence has been on a downhill slide ever since February 2010, when President Laura Chinchilla took the country’s helm.

Madrigal stated that despite the fact that Costa Rica has good indexes in matters of inflation, growth and exports, only 5% of the respondents believe that the government has good economic policy, and 76% believe that the current administration is doing a poor job running the country.

Madrigal believes that the sentiment is the fault of the country’s politicians.

The director of the School of Statistics at the University of Costa Rica (UCR), Edgar Gutierrez, said that Laura Chinchilla’s government has not been capable of boosting the population’s morale.

The current consumer confidence is lower than at the time of most any other administration, comparable only to Abel Pacheco’s time in office.

Among other relevant information obtained from the research, it was found that 51% of the consumers foresee more unemployment in the coming months, 63% believe that poverty will increase, and 76% expect increases in gas prices.

Only 19% believe this is a good time to purchase a home, compared to 27% two years ago.