Costa Rica News - Nov 13, 2005

October Tour a HUGE Success

Our October tour tour set a new record. For the first time we had over 20 highly satisfied people on our world famous Beach and Inland tours. All of the participants found both tours and the seminar to be extremely valuable. Christopher Howard will make you feel right at home. Experience Costa Rica first-hand!

Why I live in Costa Rica or Why Smaller is Better

The first week of December I visited my home town of Thousand Oaks, California. I had not returned in almost seven years. The first thing I noticed was that a lot had changed dramatically. Due to a construction boom, I could barely recognize some of the areas of town. It seemed like everything had become a great deal more commercial and homogeneous on much larger scale. Everywhere I went there were people driving a whole gamut of Sports Utility Vehicles or as they are more commonly known, SUVS.

The streets were filled with gas-guzzling vehicles we rarely see in Costa Rica - the Ford Excursion, the GMC Yukon, the Ford F-250 monster truck and a couple of models of Hummers – to name a few. Read more...

Gasoline Prices Coming Down Again

Unbelievable, but true. The Refinadora Costarricense de Petróleo (RECOPE) made a request to the Autoridad Reguladora de los Servicios Públicos (ARESEP) for another reduction, yes, you read it right, a reduction, in the price of gasoline.

When approved, the price for a litre of super gasoline will drop from the current ¢458 colones to ¢440 colones. Regular gasoline will drop from the current ¢ 436 colones to ¢419 colones per litre. Diesel fuel will stay the same at ¢337 colones per litre.

New U.S. Ambassador and President Pacheco Meet

The new U.S. Ambassador to Costa Rica, Mark Langdale, told to president Abel Pacheco, he hopes that Costa Rica will soon join the Tratado Libre de Comercio (TLC) - the free trade agreement with the United States - along with other Central American countries and the Dominican Republic, which have all ratified the agreement.

That was the topic of discussion on the first "official" meeting of the two men, which president Pacheco called a cordial and respectful meeting between the countries, with the best of intentions.

Langdale, a former hotel operator, says tha the TLC will give Costa Rica the impulse for more investment in Costa Rica. "I hope that Costa Rica will soon join the other countries in free trade which will bring comparative opportunities for Costa Rica", said Langdale.

Inflation Stationary at 14%

The cumulate inflation for the last 12 months remains near 14%as it has done since September 2004. The National Statistics and Census Bureau published the data for October, which show that the trend remains.

The cumulate inflation between October last year and last month was 13.94%, after it went 1.24% up this October.

Economist Felix Delgado believes that by the end of the year the overall inflation will be between 13.5% and 14%.

The Central Bank had forecast an overall 12.7% inflation for the year 2005, but its president, Francisco Gutierrez (above), admitted that it is more likely to be 13%.

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