Archive for September 10th, 2009
Thursday, September 10th, 2009
For those keeping an eye on the daily exchange rate between the US dollar and the colón they will have noticed a marked drop in the last several days, dropping as much as ¢1.58 on Tuesday.
Today’s exchange rate is ¢581.97 for the buy and ¢591.25 for the sell.
Experts say this is normal for September due to businesses in the free trade zones (zona francas) bring in dollars to pay taxes.
The situation could continue until the end of October when the exchange rate is expected to begin climbing again.
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Thursday, September 10th, 2009
The ministro de Turismo, Carlos Ricardo Benavides, is expected to tender his resignation today to join the presidential campaign of Laura Chinchilla.
Benavides is expected to form part of the Comando de Campaña committee for the Partido Liberación Nacional to get Chinchilla elected president in 2010.
The departure is no surprise. For months it has been rumoured that Benavides would leave his post to join the Chinchilla campaign, who has been a key figure in party politics, heading the PLN legislators in the previous government before being appointed to the ministry by president Arias.
Benavides and Chinchilla have a history of working together, not only in the legislature, but also in the current government when Chinchilla held the post of the country’s vice-president.
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Thursday, September 10th, 2009
Costa Rica has a tough task tonight facing El Salvador in World Cup Qualifying. For the Sele, the Costa Rican national team, it’s do or die, as it needs a win to stay alive in the competition after its horrendous loss 3-0 to Mexico last Saturday.
Although El Salvador may be out of the running (mathematically they still have a shot) but they are not a team that has laid down for anyone. On Saturday night the Cuscatlecos played the U.S. a very tight game in Sandy, Utah and were probably disappointed to walk away empty handed.
In June Costa Rica was the toast of CONCACAF. A 1-0 win over El Salvador, followed by a 3-1 drubbing of the U.S. and a 3-2 road win over T&T had the Ticos on top of the group and looking comfortable to make another World Cup.
Things took a turn for the worse in August. A road trip to Honduras saw the group leaders smashed 4-0. That match was followed by the home thrashing on Saturday night at the hands of El Tri, and suddenly the Costa Ricans look to be in a bit of trouble.
The perfect way to get back in the swing of things would be a win in San Salvador, a place that has not been easy to visit during the Hex. The U.S. could only manage a draw on its trip to El Salvador and Mexico was handed a loss, so the task for the Ticos won’t be easy.
But a win would give Costa Rica a much needed three points. With the U.S. going on the road, where they’ve been poor to say the least, and the other two teams in front of Costa Rica squaring off in Azteca, three points could put the Ticos back at the top of the group.
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Thursday, September 10th, 2009
The Tribunal Contencioso Administrativo ordered the 7.2% electrical rate reduction approved by the Autoridad Reguladora de los Servicios Públicos (Aresep) and appealed by the Instituto Costarricense de Electricidad (ICE).
The rate reduction was to have gone into effect on September 1, however, an appeal by ICE put the brakes on the reduction and following several adjourned court dates, judge Grace Loaiza Sánchez, handed down the decision late this afternoon, after rejecting ICE’s arguments of financial hardships.
The Aresep approved the reduction following evidence that ICE would be spending some ¢50 billion colones less than budgeted.
The rate reduction takes effect tomorrow, Thursday, September 10.
The rate reduction is applicable to all electrical services in the country ranging from 6% to 8.2%, depending on the region.
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