Costa Rica Interest Rate

Central Bank of Costa Rica maintains rates in May

The BCCR extends pause into a third meeting: At its meeting on 21 May, the Central Bank of Costa Rica (BCCR) held the policy rate at 3.25%—an over four-year low—for a third straight meeting, following December’s 25 basis point cut.

The BCCR remains cautious amid looming inflationary pressures from the Iran war: The BCCR refrained from a cut as inflation is expected to return to the Bank’s 2.0–4.0% target range by the end of the year, underpinned by the impact of the El Niño weather phenomenon plus higher global prices for fuels, fertilizers and some foods amid the Middle East conflict.

Rates to remain broadly unchanged through year-end: The Central Bank did not provide specific forward guidance on its future decisions. Our Consensus is for the policy rate to end 2026 close to its current rate. At an individual level panelists are split, with some forecasting the Bank on hold, others seeing hikes and a few projecting cuts. The BCCR reconvenes on 23 July.

How should you choose a forecaster if some are too optimistic while others are too pessimistic? FocusEconomics collects Costa Rican interest rate projections for the next ten years from a panel of 12 analysts at the leading national, regional and global forecast institutions. These projections are then validated by our in-house team of economists and data analysts and averaged to provide one Consensus Forecast you can rely on for each indicator. By averaging all forecasts, upside and downside forecasting errors tend to cancel each other out, leading to the most reliable interest rate forecast available for Costa Rican interest rate.

Download one of our sample reports to visualize what a Consensus Forecast is and see our Costa Rican interest rate projections.

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