Dollar Rises ¢7 in One Day

Following more than a week of continuous drops the U.S. dollar exchange against the Costa Rican colon rose ¢7.17 colones in one single day.

The Banco Central de Costa Rica (BCCR) pegged yesterday afternoon the buy rate at ¢¢585.90 and the sell at ¢595.37. The rate yesterday morning opened at ¢579.01 and ¢588.20, respectively.

Today’s rate is the highest ever recorded by the Central Bank since it introduced the “bandas cambiarias” – rate exchange bands – to set the daily exchange rate.

At some exchange houses the buy rate was ¢600 and sell ¢606.

The state banks were quick to follow the Central Bank change, with the Banco de Costa Rica (BCR) pegging the rate at ¢586 and 595.5, the Banco Nacional (BN) a little lower at ¢583 and ¢592.5, while the private banks like Scotiabank posting this morning an exchange rate of ¢585.5 and ¢595.50, while Citibank and the HSBC do not post the rate online.

A complete list of the exchange rate offered by the state and private banks are all listed on the Cental Bank’s website, which are updated within 10 minutes of an individual bank change to its rates.

The Central Bank on August 19 set the low and high for the band at ¢593 and ¢598. The bands are only a guideline for financial institutions to follow.