The Standard Fruit Company has announced the closure of two banana farms in Costa Rica, leading to the dismissal of 111 workers. This is due to the depreciation of the dollar against the local currency. The farms in question are located in the province of Limón (Caribbean). The workers have been compensated and some have been offered employment on other farms or temporary contracts.
The company said in a statement, “It seems that neither the productive sector nor employment in agricultural areas is something that the Central Bank is taking into account and there have been no actions to balance what is happening, despite there being tools available to counteract it.” The company employs 8,000 people directly and 50,000 indirectly in Costa Rica.
Standard Fruit Company maintains that the current dollar situation in Costa Rica is negatively affecting competitiveness in the productive sector, providing an advantage to competing countries. Various productive sectors have requested actions from the Government and the Central Bank to stabilize the dollar exchange rate, which has been falling since mid-2022.
Source: breakinglatest.news