Costa Rica’s economy is expected to grow 2.2 percent this year, slower than in 2008, but inflation is likely to ease, the central bank said on Thursday.
Costa Rica’s economy expanded by 2.9 percent in 2008.
“Beginning in the second quarter of 2008, the Costa Rican economy again met external pressures: international prices of prime materials (basic grains and oil) increased sharply, pressuring domestic inflation,” the agency said in a statement.
The bank said it sees 2009 inflation at 9 percent, compared with last year’s overall consumer price increase of 14 percent.
The Central American nation’s economy is suffering from declining exports, mainly due to the slowdown in the United States, a key trade partner.
Dozens of dogs, cats and other pets are still without their owners two weeks after a magnitude-6.1 earthquake that triggered deadly landslides.
The president of the San Francisco de Asis Animal Protection Association says about 150 pets were rescued from the street and ruined homes after the quake. Gina Malavassi says about half are now reunited with their owners.
Volunteers left notes at homes, talked to neighbors and used the Internet, television and radio to get the word out.
Many of the remaining animals are being held at shelters. Some have refused to leave their abandoned homes, and volunteers are feeding and caring for them.
The number of civil marriages that took place in 2008 in Costa Rica almost quadrupled the number of Catholic marriages that were registered.
According to a report unveiled by the Civil Registry, of the 25,302 marriages registered last year, a total of 19,588 (77.41%) were formalized with a lawyer. Meanwhile, only 5318 weddings (21.08%) were officiated by Catholic priests, and the remaining 396 (1.51%) were weddings of nationals celebrated abroad. Moreover, the number of divorces during 2008 in the country was 10,351. That is 600 fewer than in 2007. Catholic marriages have been declining since 1995 and reached their lowest number last year. In 1980, 77 out of every 100 marriages took place before a Catholic priest, while in 1995 it was only 52 out of 100. (more…)
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