American Expatriate Costa Rica

Dollar credit grows despite restrictions

The halt the BCCR wants to put to credit growth in dollars is not working to the extent the monetary authority would like to.

In recent years, one of the biggest concerns of the entity is the level of debt in dollars Costa Ricans have, especially those who register their income in colones, due to the possibility of currency devaluation.

In 2013, the regulators tried to encourage financial intermediaries to concentrate the supply of credit in colones, not dollars.

However, according to the firm Aldesa, since 2015 the percentage of credits in dollars has grown, whereas credits in colones have decrease. In April, loans in dollars recorded a growth of 13,9%.

crhoy.com