Costa Rica, officially the Republic of Costa Rica, is a country in Central America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the northeast, Panama to the southeast, the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, and maritime border with Ecuador to the south of Cocos Island. It has a population of around five million in a land area of 51,060 km2 (19,710 sq mi). An estimated 333,980 people live in the capital and largest city, San José, with around two million people in the surrounding metropolitan area.
The economy of Costa Rica has been very stable for some years now, with continuing growth in the GDP and moderate inflation, though with a high unemployment rate: 11.49% in 2019. Costa Rica's economy emerged from recession in 1997 and has shown strong aggregate growth since then. The estimated GDP for 2017 is US$61.5 billion, up significantly from the US$52.6 billion in 2015 while the estimated 2017 per capita is US$12,382.
Popular, Inc., doing business as Banco Popular in Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands and as Popular Bank in the mainland United States, is a financial services conglomerate that has operated in Puerto Rico for over 125 years and in the mainland United States for over 52 years. In recent years, it has expanded into other areas of the Caribbean and Central America. The BPPR in the logo stands for Banco Popular de Puerto Rico, where the bank has its major historical footprint.
The Inter-American Development Bank is the largest source of development financing for Latin America and the Caribbean. Established in 1959, the IDB supports Latin American and Caribbean economic development, social development and regional integration by lending to governments and government agencies, including State corporations.
The colón is the currency of Costa Rica. It was named after Christopher Columbus, known as Cristóbal Colón in Spanish. A colón is divided into one hundred céntimos.
Banco Santander, S.A., doing business as Santander Group, is a Spanish multinational financial services company based in Madrid and Santander in Spain. Additionally, Santander maintains a presence in all global financial centres as the 16th-largest banking institution in the world. Although known for its European banking operations, it has extended operations across North and South America, and more recently in continental Asia. It is considered a systemically important bank by Financial Stability Board.
Grupo Elektra is a Mexican financial and retailing corporation established by Hugo Salinas Price. The company has operations in Latin America and is the largest non-bank provider of cash advance services in the United States.
The Central American Bank for Economic Integration - CABEI was founded in 1960. It is an international multilateral development financial institution. Its resources are invested in projects that foster development to reduce poverty and inequality; strengthen regional integration and the competitive insertion of its member countries in the global economy; providing special attention to environmental sustainability. Its headquarters are in Tegucigalpa (Honduras) and has regional offices in Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Panama.
Bankinter, S.A., is a Spanish financial services company headquartered in Madrid. It has been listed on the Bolsa de Madrid since 1972, and is part of the Ibex35 Index. It was founded in 1965 as an industrial bank through a joint venture between Banco Santander and BankAmerica.
Commemorative banknotes of Costa Rica of the Costa Rican colón have been issued by the Central Bank of Costa Rica since its creation in 1950. The following is a list of the different issues printed on all the currently circulating notes along with a short description.
Grupo Aval is a Colombian holding company engaged in a wide variety of financial activities, including banking, telecommunications and real estate; in Colombia and Central America. Grupo Aval is controlled by Luis Carlos Sarmiento, who indirectly owns around 80 percent of its shares.
The Central Bank of Costa Rica is the central bank of Costa Rica.
HSBC Bank (Panama) S.A. was a subsidiary of HSBC Holdings plc headquartered in Panama City, Panama. The bank provides Personal banking, Corporate banking and Treasury services to Panama. In 2013 Bancolombia Group acquired HSBC Panama and renamed it as Banistmo.
Carlos da Silva Costa is a Portuguese economist who served as Governor of the Bank of Portugal from June 7, 2010 to July 20, 2020, when he was succeeded by Mário Centeno.
BAC Credomatic is a financial group in Central America, with operations in Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, Grand Cayman, The Bahamas, and the United States.
Banco Nacional de Costa Rica or BNCR is the largest commercial bank in Costa Rica and the second largest in Central America by assets.
The economy of Central America is the eleventh-largest economy in Latin America, behind Brazil, Mexico, Argentina and Colombia. According to the World Bank, the nominal GDP of Central America reached 204 billion US dollar in 2010, as recovery from the crisis of 2009, where gross domestic product (GDP) suffered a decline to 3.8%. The major economic income are the agriculture and tourism, although the industrial sector is in strong growth, mainly in Panama.
Marcelo Zabalaga Estrada is a Bolivian economist. He was the governor of the Central Bank of Bolivia from 2010 to 2017. He took over after Gabriel Loza Tellería.
