Costa Rica: Selected Economic and Financial Indicators

Prel. Proj.

2000 2001 2002 2003 2004

Real economy (change in percent)

Real GDP 1.8 1.0 2.9 5.6 3.8

Consumer prices

(end of period) 10.2 11.0 9.7 9.9 10.2

National savings

(in percent of GDP) 12.6 15.6 16.1 15.2 16.0

Gross domestic

Investment

(in percent of GDP) 17.1 20.1 21.9 20.5 21.3

Public finance (in percent of GDP)

Combined public

sector deficit 4.4 3.8 5.7 5.2 5.3

Central government

deficit 3.7 3.8 5.0 3.9 4.0

Money and credit (end-year, percent change)

Net domestic assets 24.8 10.9 15.5 5.9 13.8

Of which

Credit to

nonfinancial

public sector -12.9-63.5 103.1 -0.1 -1.0

Credit to

private sector 31.3 22.9 20.6 19.7 14.7

Liabilities

to private sector 17.9 18.7 17.1 17.9 13.2

Interest rates (end of period)

Deposit rate

(tasa basica pasiva) 15.5 16.0 17.5 13.8 ...

Lending rate 27.0 25.8 27.9 29.2 ...

External sector

Trade balance -1.3-5.0 -7.6 -6.3 -7.0

Current account

balance -4.4-4.5 -5.7 -5.3 -5.3

Change in net

international reserves

(in millions of U.S.

dollars, increase -) 152 -13 -163 -341 150

Net international

reserves (1) 1,086 1,098 1,261 1,602 1,452

Gross international

reserves (months of

imports of goods and

services) (1) 2.3 2.0 2.1 2.6 2.2

External public debt

(as percentage of GDP) 19.8 19.8 19.8 21.2 21.1

Real effective exchange rate

(end of period;

depreciation -) 4.7 3.6 -5.4 -9.4 ...

Sources: Central Bank of Costa Rica; Ministry of Finance; and IMF staff estimates and projections.

(1) Excludes bilateral claims under negotiation which in the official statistics are classified as part of international reserves.