Report on the economy of Costa Rica

ERM129 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~;,FIU C,Y INTERNATIONAL BANK FOR RECONSTRUCTION AND IEfl . 4M I REPORT ON THE ECONOMY OF COSTA IEI CA 1:t Tl.~'. JI * - . . ^ |!;; ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~.~ ~. ,. v~~~~~~~~~~~ k. ~ ~ ~ k'~~. .i -'4'^ . Economic Department J d , , b t Wo h tr Al [S, ~ K L  TABLE OF CONTENTS _LPae Paragraph FORE WARD SUM4MARY 1. ., I. GENERAL ........... ..........! ... .... 1 16 (A) Geography ............ , , 1 16 (B) Population ,.,., 2 21 (C) Standards of Living ..........'.'.,.?.* 3 25 (D) Recent Political History .................. 5 31 II. AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTION ..............,836 (A) Export Crops ., ............. 8 39 (B) Production for Domestic Consumption .... 16 61 III, INDUSTRIAL RESOURCES, TRANSPORTATION AND INDUSTRY .20 72 (A) Mining .................,..................*20 72 (B) Transportation ... ............... *..... 20 74 (C) Industry .............. .. .. 21 77 IV, DOMESTIC FINANCE ............... 26 87 (A) Budget ........... 26 87 (B) Tax System .... ......... 30 96 (C) Public Debt ................ 31 99 (D) Money and Credit .............34 105 (E) Prices and Wages ......... 39 115 V. INTENTATIONAL TRADE AND FINANCE ................. 41 120 (A) Foreign Trade ...... 41 120 (B) Balance of Payments ...............43 127 VI, DEVELCPMENT POLICY AND PRACTIr(E .............. 50 140 STATISTICAL APPENDIX Table I - Government Receipts and Expenditures Table II t Gold and Foreign Assets Table III I mrnports and Exports Table IV - Imports Since 1940 Table V - Selected Imports in 1946 Table VI - Exports Since 1940 Table VII - Exports in 1947 Table VIII - Terms of Trade Table IX - Balance of Payments MAPS  REPUBLIC OF COSTA RICA BASIC STATISTICS Area 19,238 square miles Population (1947) 810,000 Currency: Unit colon (sign