by Rod Hughes

The year 2007 ended with a 10.81 percent inflation figure, a disappointment for the Central Bank that had aimed at 8% at the beginning of the year. The country has not had a single-digit inflation figure in recent years but at least has been consistently around 10-12%.

But, as the weekly The Tico Times reported Dec 21, the consumer price index shot up during the year with food costs increasing a wallet-bending 18%. The daily La Nacion reported that the inflation was fueled by hikes in transport costs (blame petroleum prices), soft drinks, food, eating out and education.

Monthly food costs per capita have risen steadily from 15,944 colones in 2004 to 24,957 last year, according to The Tico Times. Nor does cutting back on luxury foods help all that much. The so-called “basic food basket,” 10 staples such as cereals, beans, sugar and dairy products by which the government judges the effect on the poor of food price, rose 13%, the weekly reported.

How much of this can be blamed on rising world petroleum prices was not explained. But not even ranking the colon against a weakened dollar, strengthening the colon 4%, seemed to make a dent on rising prices.