Costa Rica News – Even though Costa Rica’s currency is the colon, businesses tend to be leaning towards pricing their particular products in dollars, which in turn effects the asking price of the item.
The reason is numerous foreign goods as well as industries rely on the global market, like that of the tourism sector. Some enterprises have applied this particular strategy as a result of the uncertainty of the colon as it continues to decrease in value as compared to the dollar.
The Ministry of Economy, Industry and Commerce (MEIC) has cautioned that enterprises need to apply the exchange rate of the Central Bank of Costa Rica and not other banking institutions, as the selling price of the dollar may be more expensive in some places as opposed to others.
In addition, the consumer should have the option to pay in U.S. currency if preferred. According to MEIC, dollar sales are more common in vehicles, real estate and tourism.
Isabel Vargas, president of the Chamber of Tourism stated the tourism industry has been losing money due to the fact that the dollar has continued to remain in the lower range in recent years and only now starting to find the balance point, although it’s still not enough.
She argues that when the dollar is cheap, it ends up begin a loss for them, as many of their tourism suppliers charge for their services in colones and wages are also paid are in the national currency.
She is certain that the present value of the dollar will start to influence many products, especially in the case of imported goods, such as clothing, furniture and some appliances.
There is no legislation currently in place to prevent retailers from selling their goods in dollars as opposed to colones.
According to Vargas, in spite of the inclination to charge for goods and services in dollars, the nation is nowhere near “dollarizing” its economy, as it involves extreme variations in economic and wage policy if they want to take that giant step.
