In order to attract money from savers in colones in six months terms, the rates currently offered by financial institutions are 8.10% in the case of the Central Bank (Banco Central), 6.85% at Banco Nacional, 6.75% at Banco de Costa Rica and 6.40% in Promérica. 

In the current scenario, the Central Bank is offering better yields, despite being the entity with the lowest risk. Regarding the possible consequences of this situation, Scotiabank treasury director, Mario Vásquez, explained to Nacion.com that " ... if banks must face higher collection costs, the higher interest rates paid on long term deposits translate into higher rates charged in credit operations and that could ultimately affect the cost of credit."

See graph of the behavior of the Passive Base Rate: Click to interact with graphClick to interact with graph

In relation to the variations of the rates and the shares of the Central Bank, the Treasury manager of the Bank of Costa Rica, Luis Diego Moya, stated that " ...'Theoretically, the Central Bank is an issuer with low risk, however, the interest rate adjustments promoted by the Central Bank have been extremely aggressive in recent months, which from our point of view, means it is not appropriate to equate it due to the effect it has on the financial cost, considering also that the active and reference rates, especially the passive base rate, do not adjust at the same rate due to their calculation methodology."

Source: Nacion.com

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