Countries › Costa Rica › Guide › 16. What is normal abroad but not here › A legal interest rate ceiling reset every six months: 36.48% in colones and 30.11% in dollars for the second half of 2026

A legal interest rate ceiling reset every six months: 36.48% in colones and 30.11% in dollars for the second half of 2026

Last verified: 2026-10-30 · Status: Changing

Abroad, commercial lenders and sellers on credit usually price interest freely. In Costa Rica every person or company that finances a third party, bank or not, is bound by maximum annual rates that the BCCR computes from a legal formula and publishes in the first week of January and July. For contracts made from July to December 2026 the caps are 36.48% in colones and 30.11% in dollars, with higher caps for microcredits, and fees above the legal limits count as interest.

USD figures use the Banco Central de Costa Rica reference selling rate of ₡454.82 per US dollar published for 29 October 2026 (indicator 318 on bccr.fi.cr), rounded to the cent; conversions are for orientation only. Amounts tied to the salario base use the 2026 figure of ₡462,200 (Circular 246-2025 of the Consejo Superior del Poder Judicial, under Ley 7337 art. 2).

Key facts

Maximum annual interest, colones (all credit except microcredit), contracts July to December 2026	36.48 %Ley 7472 art. 36 bis; CP-BCCR-017-2026, as of 2026-07-03 · in force
Maximum annual interest, US dollars (all credit except microcredit), contracts July to December 2026	30.11 %Ley 7472 art. 36 bis; CP-BCCR-017-2026, as of 2026-07-03 · in force
Maximum annual interest, microcredit in colones, July to December 2026	51.51 %Ley 7472 art. 36 bis; CP-BCCR-017-2026, as of 2026-07-03 · in force
Maximum annual interest, microcredit in dollars, July to December 2026	42.65 %Ley 7472 art. 36 bis; CP-BCCR-017-2026, as of 2026-07-03 · in force
Maximum annual interest, other currencies, July to December 2026	7.27 %Ley 7472 art. 36 bis; CP-BCCR-017-2026, as of 2026-07-03 · in force

The rule

1. The maximum annual rate for all credit except microcredit is the simple average of the last twelve months of the weighted negotiated lending rate of the Otras Sociedades de Depósito group, plus 12.8 percentage points, multiplied by 1.5; for microcredit the add on is 13.18 points and the multiplier 2.085. The base rate is the colón or dollar rate depending on the contract currency, and the dollar rate is used for other currencies.Ley 7472, Ley de Promoción de la Competencia y Defensa Efectiva del Consumidor, as added by Ley 9859 of 16 June 2020, art. 36 bis, 2020-06-16 official text · verified 2026-10-30 · changed: Ley 9859 (2020) introduced the general usury ceiling for all lenders, not only consumer credit.

2. A microcredit is any credit of up to 1.5 times the salario base of the Poder Judicial (Ley 7337); credit cards are excluded, and lenders may not split regular loans into microcredit sized pieces to charge the higher cap.
Example: 1.5 x ₡462,200 = ₡693,300 in 2026. / About US$1,524.34.Ley 7472, art. 36 bis, 2020-06-16 official text · verified 2026-10-30

3. The BCCR calculates the caps and publishes them in La Gaceta and on its website in the first week of January and July; they apply to every contract, deal or transaction made in the following semester.Ley 7472, art. 36 bis, 2020-06-16 official text · verified 2026-10-30

4. Costs, charges, penalties or commissions may not be added on top of the cap: any charge, whatever its name, counts as interest, except a documented collection fee of no more than 5% of the overdue principal, capped at US$12, from the fifth day of delay and no more than once a month. Charging above the cap is a disproportionate pecuniary advantage for the usury offence in Código Penal art. 243.
Cost to do it: Collection fee ceiling: US$12 a month.
Example: Overdue instalment principal ₡100,000: fee at most ₡5,000. / About US$10.99.Ley 7472, art. 36 bis, 2020-06-16 official text · verified 2026-10-30

5. Caps published on 3 July 2026 for the second half of 2026: all credit except microcredit 36.48% in colones and 30.11% in dollars; microcredit 51.51% in colones and 42.65% in dollars; credit in other currencies 7.27%. The base period was July 2025 to June 2026.
Example: ₡10,000,000 loan for a year: interest may not exceed ₡3,648,000. / About US$8,020.76; a US$100,000 loan may not carry more than US$30,110 a year.Banco Central de Costa Rica, comunicado CP-BCCR-017-2026 under Ley 7472 art. 36 bis, Table of maximum annual rates, 2026-07-03 official text · verified 2026-10-30

Credit	Colones	US dollars
All credit except microcredit	36.48%	30.11%
Microcredit (up to ₡693,300 in 2026)	51.51%	42.65%
Other currencies	7.27%	7.27%

Maximum annual interest rates for contracts made from July to December 2026 (BCCR CP-BCCR-017-2026, 3 July 2026).

Worked example

A distributor sells equipment on 12 month credit in dollars in September 2026 for US$50,000. The annual rate, including any financing fees, may not exceed 30.11%: at most US$15,055 of interest (₡6,847,315 at the reference rate).
The same deal signed in January 2027 uses the caps the BCCR publishes in the first week of January 2027.

Step by step

Check the BCCR table for the semester in which the contract is signed.
Fold all fees and commissions into the effective annual rate and test it against the cap.
Use the collection fee only after day five, once a month, and within 5% and US$12.
For loans in currencies other than colones and dollars, note the far lower cap.

Common traps

The cap covers commercial and intercompany financing, not just consumer loans: the article applies to any person that finances a third party.
Default interest of banks follows Ley 1644 art. 70 and of non bank lenders Código de Comercio art. 498, as the article itself refers.
Euro or other currency loans are capped at 7.27% for the second half of 2026, which can bite on foreign currency vendor finance.

Sources

← A 48 hour week, overtime at 50% extra and a 12 hour daily ceilingDollar contracts are valid, but the debtor may usually pay in colones →

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