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Fuel prices going up, thanks, in part, to inflated
exchange rate
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By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
During the presidential election campaign, some candidates addressed
the inflexibility of the nation's price regulator and blamed higher
consumer expenditures on this situation.
A classic case developed Monday when the price regulator, the
Authoridad Reguladora de Servicios Públicos, announced increases
in gasoline, diesel, jet fuel, kerosene and cooking gas.
The prices will go into effect in a few days when the formal
announcement is published in the La Gaceta government newspaper.
The increases are a bit more than 6 percent for super gasoline and
about 4.5 percent for plus gasoline. The increases are based on the
estimated inflation from Dec. 24 to Jan. 7, the depreciation of the
colon and the international price of petroleum.
Under the new rates, motorists will be paying a price that reflects an
exchange rate to buy dollars of 576.93 colons, according to the
regulating
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authority. That was what
the rate was Jan. 7. However, today
the buy rate for one dollar is 560.04 colons, according to figures from
the Banco Central de Costa Rica. The price of a dollar is critical
because petroleum is sold for that currency.
Using the Jan. 7 figure means that the exchange rate is about 2.9
percent higher than the rate today. In other words, the dollar is
pegged 17 colons higher than today's rate.
As some political candidates pointed out the price of petroleum affects
most products in the marketplace because nearly everything has to be
transported.
The announced changes in fuel prices are super gasoline, from 588
colons per liter to 627 colons; plus gasoline from 573 to 599 colons
and diesel from 511 to 535 per liter. Cooking gas is going up from 311
colons to 389 colons, some 78 colons per liter. That's a 25.1 percent
increase.
Many Costa Rican homes used the bottled cooking gas daily. |
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After election, Ms. Chinchilla will seek a coalition
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By the A.M. Costa Rica staff
President-elect Laura Chinchilla made the appropriate stops Monday, the
day after her landslide victory.
She visited the Basilica de Nuestra Señora de los Ángeles
in Cartago which is dedicated to the patroness of Costa Rica. She also
visited the tombs of her grandparents in the Cementerio de
Desamparados. Ms. Chinchilla's visits to Cartago and the cemetery are
more than just showmanship. She is a devout Roman Catholic who is
likely to stick close to church teachings in her administration.
Today she has a 3 p.m. appointment with her mentor, President
Óscar Arias Sánchez.
But the real challenge will come when she meets with legislators and
tries to come up with a coalition that can get her favored projects
through the Asamblea Legislative.
Ms. Chinchilla has said that she would meet with opposition leaders to
find common ground to fight poverty and improve citizen security.
Her Partido Liberación Nacional managed to seat 22 of its
members in
the 57-place unicameral |
legislature. One seat
in Guanacaste still is in
doubt. There are 25 Liberación members in the current
legislature that
leave office May 1.
Arias worked closely with his party's members of the legislature to
pass key pieces of legislature. To do that the party had to form a
coalition that resulted in sharing assembly leadership with allies.
Exactly 38 votes is a two-thirds majority in the legislature, so any
coalition that seeks to have a super majority to be successful under
the voting rules must have at least that number.
There is no love lost between Liberación and either Partido
Acción
Ciudadana (11 deputies) or Movimiento Libertario (probably 10
deputies). Likely allies are the four legislative deputies elected from
the Partido Accesibilidad sin Exclusión, which works for the
rights of
the disabled. That party has four seats in the new legislature. The
Partido Unidad Social Cristiana also is a possible legislative partner
along with several independents.
Still, it is clear to obtain a
supermajority for critical contested votes, either Acción
Ciudadana or
Libertarios will have to come on board. So right from the start the
situation will test Ms. Chinchilla's diplomacy and that of her party's
legislative leaders. |
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