Los Presentes es un conjunto escultórico en bronce del artista costarricense Fernando Calvo, ubicado en la plazoleta exterior del Banco Central de Costa Rica desde 1989. La obra está compuesta por nueve figuras humanas de tamaño natural que representan a los habitantes tradicionales del Valle Central y al campesinado costarricense.

Exchange Rate Regime

Agreements with international organizations

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International Monetary Fund (IMF)

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is a specialized agency of the United Nations, established by international treaty in 1945 to promote the effective functioning of the global economy. The IMF has 183 member countries.

Costa Rica joined the IMF through Law No. 55, dated December 1945. Under this law, the Issuing Department of the National Bank of Costa Rica was designated as the sole depositary agent of the National Government in its relations with the IMF and was entrusted with carrying out the corresponding quota subscriptions. Subsequently, under Law No. 4640, published on September 16, 1960, the Central Bank of Costa Rica was appointed as the sole agent and depositary of the Government, and its Board of Directors was made responsible for handling all matters related to the IMF.

The current status of the arrangement and Costa Rica’s relationship with the International Monetary Fund are available at the IMF website.

Latin American Reserve Fund (FLAR)

It is a Regional Financing Arrangement (RFA) established in 1978 (originally the Andean Reserve Fund, FAR) in response to the needs of Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, and Venezuela to rely on their own financial institution that could help address issues derived from external sector imbalances of their economies and ease the process of regional integration. It became the world’s second regional financing arrangement. In 1989, building on the solid foundations of an institution in full operation, the FAR was transformed into the Latin American Reserve Fund (FLAR), following an initiative by the Andean countries to expand its scope across Latin America.

Costa Rica authorized its membership in FLAR through Law No. 8008, dated August 03, 2000. The BCCR made an initial contribution of USD 125 million to the FLAR. On June 17, 2002, an increase in Costa Rica’s capital of USD 109.375 million was approved. Subsequently, additional contributions have been authorized, increasing the Fund’s capital and bringing Costa Rica’s participation to a level comparable to that of a large member country. These increases have been paid in periodic installments since 2002, financed through a combination of own resources and the capitalization of the Fund’s annual income.

FLAR may extend credit to the BCCR to help correct or prevent structural imbalances in the balance of payments and to address temporary liquidity difficulties under the following modalities:

•            Liquidity credit.

•            Contingent financing.

•            Balance-of-payments support loan.

•            External public debt restructuring support credit.

The current status of the arrangement and Costa Rica’s relationship with the International Monetary Fund are available at the FLAR website.