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Cost Of Living Drops
The cost of living in Costa Rica
dropped, according to the Indice
de Precios al Consumidor (IPC) -
consumer price index - to 0.88%
last month as compared to 1.25%
for August of 2005. The
information was revealed by the
Instituto Nacional de
Estadísticas y Censo (INEC)
along with a new list of
products that makes up the
"canasta básica" (basic basket).
The INEC says that inflation
dropped to 7.22% for the month
of August, down from 9.58% in
August 2005 and 8.68% in August
2004. Notwitstanding, consumers
had to pay more for their basic
daily purchases.
According to María Elena
González, a manager at INEC,
gasoline, tomatoes, bread and
dental services topped the list
of price increases that shot up
the cost of the basic food
basket. The cost of hotel rooms,
eggs, tours, women's clothing
and children's shoes, however,
went down.
The basic basket is made of 292
goods and services, of which 67%
saw an increase in prices while
25% of the items had price drops
and 8% were unchanged.
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