Aguinaldo Comes Early As
State Banks Offer Loans
of Up To 90%
The Aguinaldo, the
Christmas bonus paid to
all salaried employees,
is just around the
corner. However, the
Banco de Costa Rica (BCR)
is letting people have
it today, as it promotes
its personal loan
secured by the Aguinaldo.
The BCR is lending to
anyone who has been
receiving their salary
or depositing their
pension with the BCR for
the last six months or
more.
The bank says it will
lend up to 90% of the
expected Aguinaldo and
within 24 hours of
applying.
However, there are a few
catches in the fine
lines.
One, salary or pension
deposits have to be in
colones. Two, the
interest rate is based
on the Central Bank's
TASA BÁSICA PASIVA (TBP)
for six months plus
nine percent. And,
three all loans are
fully payable by not
later than December 21,
2007.
The TBP for November 13
is 6.3% for state banks,
bringing the rate on the
BCR loan to 15.3%.
Source:
BCCR
Employers, both public
and private, are
required to pay their
salaried employees an
amount, for simplicity,
an average equal to one
month's salary or
portion thereof if the
employees has been
working less than 12
months, between December
1, 2006 and November 20,
2007.
The Aguinaldo is
required to be paid
commencing December 1
and at the latest
December 20. Employers
who do not pay the
Aguinaldo by the last
day face fines and
sanctions if the
employee files a
complaint with the
Ministerio de Trabajo (labour
ministry),
So far the BCR and the
Banco Nacional (BN) are
the only financial
institution to offer
this type of loan. The
Banco Nacional does not
promote this service on
its webpage and asks
customers to contact
their customer service
line for more
information on the loan.
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