Only in the first nine days of November, the Central Bank of Costa Rica had to resort to $231 million in reserves to try and stop stronger movements in the exchange rate.
Of that amount, $125 million have been sold in the Foreign Currency Market (Monex) and the rest has been provided to entities of the Non-Banking Public Sector (SPNB) for their operations.
In this group we find the Costa Rican Electricity Institute, the Costa Rican Petroleum Refinery and the National Company of Power and Light, among others. Also the Ministry of Finance, which has had to face maturities of securities in foreign currency.
Additionally, the Central Bank issued an increase in the monetary policy rate (MPR) and an increase in the interest rates payable on time deposits. All these actions aimed at curbing abrupt increases in the exchange rate.
After two hectic sessions, in which the price of the dollar exceeded ¢638 in the banks, the exchange rate fell during Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, to reach the values of a week before, around ¢627.
The same behavior was registered in the wholesale market, where it closed just above the ¢620.
Since the beginning of the second semester, the Central Bank has increased dollar sales to try and stabilize the foreign exchange market.