Following the entry into force of the Usury Law, the Central Bank published the maximum annual interest rates, which for credit operations in colons amount to 37.69% and 30.36% in dollars.
The law that was published on June 20, 2020 establishes the methodology to be used to set the maximum interest rate, and stipulates that the Central Bank of Costa Rica must publish on its website and on The Gazette, the maximum usury rates in the first week of January and July each year.
This week, the Basic Passive Rate continued to fall, from 3.8% to 3.75%, while the Effective Rate in dollars also fell, from 1.94% to 1.84%.
The Central Bank of Costa Rica published on the afternoon of Wednesday, April 15 that after registering considerable drops in the previous weeks, the Basic Passive Rate fell again, in this case by 0.05% and will remain at 3.75% until next Wednesday, April 23.
The Basic Passive Rate remained at 4.5%, while the Effective Dollar Rate reported a decrease, in this case from 2.38% to 2.35%.
The Central Bank of Costa Rica published on Wednesday afternoon, March 11, that after registering a decrease the previous week, the Basic Liable Rate reported no variations for the next few days and will remain at 4.5% until March 18.
In Costa Rica, the Basic Passive Rate dropped from 4.95% to 4.80%, a drop that was influenced by the behavior of public bank rates.
The Central Bank of Costa Rica published on the afternoon of Wednesday, February 26 that after registering a considerable drop the previous week, the Basic Liable Rate fell again, in this case by 0.15% and will remain at 4.80% until next Wednesday, March 4.
The Basic Passive Rate decreased from 5.65% to 5.50%, while the Effective Rate in Dollars also decreased, from 2.52% to 2.33%.
The Central Bank of Costa Rica published the afternoon of Wednesday November 6 that after not registering variations the previous week, the Basic Passive Rate fell by 0.15%, and will remain at 5.50% until next Wednesday November 13.
In Costa Rica, the growth of credit granted in U.S. currency to the private sector is the lowest in a decade.
Credit to the private sector does not show signs of recovery and, instead, the data available until August show an additional deterioration that took it to its lowest point in 10 years, reporting a year-on-year fall of -0.01%.
Between May and September 2018, an increase was reported in the proportion of loans with payment arrears greater than 90 days, but between October and December the trend was downwards.
Data from the General Superintendence of Financial Entities (Sugef) indicate that between September and December 2018, the proportion of loans with payment arrears greater than 90 days, or in judicial collection, decreased from 2.58% to 2.14%.
Because of the adjustments made by the Central Bank to interest rates in recent days, financial institutions in Costa Rica will be forced to raise interest rates on savings in local currency.
Arguing that forecasts suggest that inflation in 2019 could be above the upper limit of the target range, on November 1st the Central Bank of Costa Rica (BCCR) decided to raise the monetary policy rate from 5% to 5.25%.
In Costa Rica a law proposal pretends to reduce by 50% the bank fees on loans for businesses and SMEs, as well as credits for social housing and lower class.
The law project, which was presented to the Congress by the representative, Yorleny Leon, aims to reduce fees in the formalization of bank loans, which currently range between 8% and 10% of total credit.
State banks are leading this growth, although private banks still retain 61% of the total loan portfolio in the U.S. currency.
An article in Nacion.com reports that "The growth in dollar loans from public banks is striking because it is a market that traditionally is dominated more by private financial institutions."
In Costa Rica, investments in local currency (colones) of up to six months can be found with rates ranging from 6.3% to 10.5%, where the minimum is between 25,000 to 1 million colones ($ 50 - $2,000)
In Costa Rica there is a wide range of investment options for 6 months terms.
Digital titles, capitalized interest and diversity of issuers are some of the characteristics of the term certificates market in the country.
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