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Credits: Rate Limits Decrease in Costa Rica

By the first half of 2021 all maximum annual interest rates that are estimated by the Central Bank will decrease compared to those imposed in the second half of 2020.

Monday, January 11, 2021

On January 8, 2021 the Central Bank of Costa Rica (BCCR) published, on its website and in the official newspaper La Gaceta, the new maximum annual interest rates for credit operations in colones, US dollars and other currencies.

See "Financial Services: Business Potential in Central America"

Details of the maximum annual interest rates:

Loan type	Maximum rates for semester 2-2020	Maximum rates for semester 1-2021
Credits in colons, except microcredits	37.69%	35.56%
Credits in dollars, except microcredits	30.36%	29.56%
Microcredits in colons	53.18%	50.22%
Microcredits in dollars	42.99%	41.88%
Credits in other currencies	7.44%	6.91%

The BCCR statement explains that "... for the calculation of the new interest rates, the Central Bank used the simple average of the monthly negotiated lending rates for the previous 12 months (in this case, for the period January 2020-December 2020).

Each month's interest rate is the weighted average of the lending rates for all credit transactions made during the respective month. The weighting is based on the amount of the corresponding transaction."

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