www.CostaRicaTicas.com

So far much ado about nothing,

Rate has been very stable around 515 per $. The change shouldnt affect inflation though, the colon should continue to deflate as always, just moving naturally week to week.

well that makes VB's last date 68us

The colon rate of exchange with the dollar has been determined by the central bank for many years. This rate has changed daily, and the central bank often used some type of formula to determine the rate each day. This was essentially a fixed rate system because the government determined the rate instead of the free market.

Recently they went to a free market system, but being worried that a large, immediate change might result when they went to the free market, they had an upper and a lower limit which any change could not exceed. The plan was, and is, to slowly enlarge the spread between the upper and lower limits until they finally remove all limits. Most people thought the colon would weaken immediately. Surprise. It actually strengthened by a few colones.

The inflation rate in Costa Rica (colones) has been much higher than the inflation rate in the United States (dollars) for many years. The reason for this is because the central bank in Costa Rica prints colones at a much faster rate than the United States prints dollars. The current result of this is that the colon is devalued (inflation) by about 10% per year now, and the dollar is being devalued at a 2% to 3% rate now. As with any free market exchange rates, in the short term almost anything can happen. However, in the long term, as long as Costa Rica continues to devalue its currency at a 10% rate each year, while the United States "only" devalues its currencey at a 2% to 3% rate each year, you can count on the fact that the number of colones required to buy a dollar will continue to increase.

If you are going to put some money in your desk drawer for a few months, choose dollars. Dollars will lose their value at a much lower rate than colones. Both will lose purchasing power and make you poorer, but you will end up better off if you choose dollars.

I found that after I made certain purchases,If I felt the exchange rate was not good,I would tell the merchants etc. what the floor and ceiling is for the day posted by Banco Central de Costa Rica. I would say over 50% of the time they would give me a better exchange. I check the site each day http://www.bccr.fi.cr/flat/bccr_flat.htm but the ranges given in other posts are pretty accurate............enjoy!

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Hello..room service? Could you send up some (!) please!