Costa Rica Well-Positioned For Global Slowdown In a visit to Costa Rica yesterday, Dominique Strauss-Kahn, managing director of the International Monetary Fund said that Costa Rica is in relatively good shape to weather the global economic slowdown.
Strauss-Kahn, however, the country's central bank should remain ready to act.
Strauss-Kahn met with Costa Rica's president, Oscar Arias, the ministro de Hacienda, Guillermo Zúñiga, and the president of the Central Bank, Francisco de Paula Gutierrez.
Strauss-Kahn said there was general agreement that a combination of domestic policy adjustment and external financing are needed to help the Costa Rican economy and people deal with the slowdown.
"In this regard, the country can confront the challenging global environment from a position of relative strength," he said in a statement. "The prudent fiscal stance of recent years provides the authorities with some room for maneuver."
The Central Bank must remain "vigilant" to ensure "a smooth adjustment in domestic demand and the current account deficit, maintain the attractiveness of local currency assets, and ensure that inflation expectations converge toward the central bank's inflation target," he said.
Strauss-Kahn added that the IMF stands ready to help Costa Rica with as much credit as it needs to face the global financial crisis.
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