Sunday, January 06, 2008

Euros, anyone?

Lately the dollar-colón exchange rate has been tanking here. That has never happened as long as I can remember (which is 9 years now). Just a couple of months ago, it was 520+ colones to the dollar; currently, it has fallen to just under 500 to the dollar. Historically (and I mean in the last few years historically), the exchange rate rose by a few colones every few days, making having one's money in dollars a good idea. I think most people who live here and keep their money in Costa Rican banks are more aware of the falling dollar rate than those actually living in the U.S., because those of us who get paid in dollars (but need to pay for just about everything else here in colones, and thus exchange our dollars for colones every time we use an ATM or take money out of the bank) lose money when the U.S. dollar falls. I'm no economist (in fact I totally struggled through macroeconomics in college!), but it seems the Euro is a lot stronger these days than the dollar is. At least from my standpoint. So I'm thinking of converting my dollars into Euros. Or is that just too much trouble for a small amount of loss? Perhaps this is a momentary thing and the dollar will begin to rise again. Anyone who is more versed in the ins and outs of international exchange, feel free to chime in here!

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