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RD$1.79 billion in governmental transfers President Hipólito Mejía requested that Congress authorize a RD$1.79-billion transfer from the National Budget. The transfer would affect the budgets of the ministries of Education, Environment, and Industry & Commerce, as well as the allotment to pay the public debt. The President’s Office sent the bill to Congress by way of the Senate yesterday. A sum of RD$950 million would be diverted to the Office of the President of the Republic, the Ministry of the Interior and Police, the Ministry of the Armed Forces and the Ministry of Foreign Relations Ministry. Diario Libre explains the requested transfers The Education Ministry would see a shift of RD$109 million that had been assigned to student welfare services (RD$90 million) and pedagogical technical services (RD$19 million), to pay for pensions and retirement plans (RD$35.1 million), donations and aid (RD$54.8 million) and RD$19 million for decentralized institutions. The Industry and Commerce Ministry would see reductions of RD$5 million in its budget for the coordination of councils and commissions, while RD$5.6 million would be allotted to unnamed programs for the regulation of prices, norms and quality control systems. The Environment Ministry is to be subject to reductions of RD$7 million in its regular budget, but in turn would receive RD$34.8 million for the preservation of protected areas, RD$1.3 million for environmental quality programs, RD$11.1 million for activities and RD$1.5 million for unallotted chapters. Payment of the public debt is reduced by RD$1.67 billion Of the money that would be transferred to the Presidency of the Republic, RD$950.5 million would be designated for use in constructions and improvements (RD$408.4 million), control of public transport (RD$34 million), drug control (RD$36 million), advertising (RD$40 million), coordination of social programs (RD$267 million), and a chapter described as current capital transfers from the private sector and public sector (RD$94.8 million). The Ministry of Interior and Police would receive RD$154.7 million for police (RD$132 million) and firefighting services (RD$11.7 million). The Armed Forces would benefit from an additional RD$139.75 million. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs would receive RD$297 million for the payment of the foreign diplomatic corps. The additional funding is attributed to the devaluation of the peso. Other government departments receiving allotments from the shuffled budget are Finances (RD$24.5 million), Agriculture (RD$32.4 million), Tourism (RD$14 million), Attorney General office (RD$20 million) and Superior Education (RD$11 million). |
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IMF delivers US$120 million today Carlos Despradel, the Technical Secretary of the Presidency, told reporters that the Central Bank would receive US$120.6 million today, as part of the International Monetary Fund two-year stand by arrangement. According to Despradel, there will be another US$61.7 million dollars forthcoming in October. These funds are part of the US$618 million that the IMF and other international organizations have agreed to place in the Central Bank of the Dominican Republic as set out in the IMF arrangement. The Inter American Development Bank will hand over US$100 million in September, and the World Bank will place US$100 million more in October. The agreement with the IMF opens the doors to a cash inflow of US$1.2 billion dollars for the local economy. According to Central Bank Governor José Lois Malkum, the two chief elements of the agreement are the provisos to place pressure on the peso-dollar exchange and to mitigate the effects of the Baninter scandal, which left a RD$55-billion “black hole” in the Dominican economy. To meet these conditions, the Dominican government agreed to impose a 2% tax on imports (thereby generating an additional RD$1.2 billion in fiscal savings), a 0.15% commission on checks passing through the Compensation Chamber run by the Central Bank, and a US$10 increase in the departure tax. The government has also ordered a 5% tax on exports that was bitterly rejected by the business community. Other fiscal measures are expected to be forthcoming. |
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World Bank nixes intervention in the Edes The World Bank, through the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA), expressed its concerns with regard to the intentions of the Dominican government and a possible intervention of the Spanish power distributors Ede-Norte and Ede-Sur. The MIGA considered that such intervention would not solve the country’s energy problems and could put a damper on future foreign investment in power services. According to the Listín Diario, the MIGA sent a letter to the Superintendent of Power, George Reinoso, on 28 August, expressing the concerns. The letter said, in part, that the MIGA was concerned that intervention in two of the three power distributors is being proposed as a solution to the electricity problems plaguing the Dominican Republic, regardless of whether it be carried out by the Inter American Development Bank or the Dominican state. Lorin Weisenfeld, as the general legal counselor of MIGA, said that independently of the possible discriminatory nature of the intervention, “it is the general opinion that the electricity problem of the Dominican Republic is sector-related, not distribution-related.” The World Bank is also worried by the fact that the two distributors are being treated as one entity, when both legally and financially speaking, they are two separate bodies, despite being affiliates of the same Spanish company. |
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Dollar down According to reports in today’s press, the dollar is down in both the commercial banks and the exchange agencies. In trading yesterday in Santiago, the dollar was being purchased at RD$29.50 by the exchange houses. The Listín Diario reported that there was a RD$2.50 fall in the dollar, with sales reported at RD$30.00 to US$1. Central Bank Governor José Lois Malkum said that he believed the influx of dollars from the IMF accords would bring the dollar to a stable rate of RD$25 to US$1. |
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JCE behind schedule The Central Electoral Board (JCE) is late in completing four of its projects for the 2004 elections. Among the tasks to be carried out are the restructure of the election boards in 66 municipalities, evaluation of the key positions needed for the 2004 elections, replacement of 900,000 personal identity and voter registration cards (cédulas) that list the wrong polling station, and the advancement of the controversial program of overseas voting. In the 2000 presidential election, 3.2 million people cast votes. The voting rolls will be closed on 15 December 2003. At the current time there are still 21,000 people with more than one voter registration card. El Caribe says that the JCE expects 5.1 million Dominican to be eligible to vote in May 2004. There will be 12,500 polling stations in 134 municipalities and the National District (Santo Domingo). There will be 15 overseas offices, called Coordinating Offices for Electoral Logistics, where Dominican will be able to vote, for the first time, for the President and the Vice President. |
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The Armed Forces say troops are safe Armed Forces spokesperson Colonel Sandra Jiménez told reporters yesterday that all conditions are normal for the Dominican troops stationed in Al Qassidiya in the south-central part of Iraq. Colonel Jiménez gave this update when questioned after the Spanish Minister of Defense, Federico Trillo, said that danger to foreign troops had escalated. Colonel Jiménez reminded the press that the Armed Forces has never implied there would be no danger for the troops stationed in Iraq, since this is a normal part of their duty. She reminded the reporters that the troops were on a mission, not a holiday. In a related story also carried in the Listín Diario, a Dominican officer is reported to have talked to his family in Santo Domingo by way of a satellite telephone loaned to him by an Iraqi civilian. While talking to his mother, First Lieutenant José Naking Cole Severino said that everything was going well and told his family not to worry about newspaper and television reports. The soldier’s mother told reporters that the worst thing about being stationed in Iraq was the lack of communication. Lt. Severino is not only a graduate of the Battle of Las Carreras Military Academy (a Dominican West Point or Sandhurst) but also a lawyer from the UTESA university in Santo Domingo. He was not among the original officers chosen for the mission to Iraq, but volunteered to be one of the first 150 troops sent to Spain in August. |
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No such thing as a free ride? In spite of being deficit-ridden and held up by government subsidies, the OMSA (Organización Metropolitana de Servicios de Autobuses) bus service provider has announced that starting next Sunday, 7 September, the buses in Santiago and Santo Domingo will carry passengers for free on Sundays. El Caribe says that this will cost OMSA about RD$1 million a week. Concurrently, the paper reports that OMSA users complain that there are frequent lapses in service due to fuel shortages, local flooding, and other problems. The OMSA debt is said to be RD$189 million, in spite of the fact that just last week it received a RD$60-million subsidy from the government. Even with the government assistance, the total debt did not decrease. The difference between income and expenditures is RD$70 million a month. According to Gladyori A. Rodríguez, the El Caribe reporter, many of OMSA’s customers cannot afford the RD$10 fare for the express buses that were recently put into service. The reporter revealed that the larger buses cannot negotiate large puddles from rains because the motors become flooded. According to the report, the OMSA is a bottomless pit. Nevertheless, there are studies that indicate that the demand for public transportation amounts to nearly three million passengers a day while OMSA is transporting only 400,000 per day. Even so, this is three times the total that was carried just 20 years ago. Engineer Atilio Frías, a transport specialist, explained that transportation is too tied into politics and transport unions are too powerful. Frías says under its present cost structure, OMSA would need to charge RD$15 per fare. Frías and Hamlet Hermann, who oversaw the Metropolitan Transport Authority in its first years, say there is a need to unify transport matters. |
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Caracas wants a new deal Hoy is reporting that the government of Venezuela wants to renegotiate the agreement with the Dominican Republic that permits the Dominican refinery to purchase oil at preferential prices. While the negotiations are underway, the refinery will have to purchase oil on the international markets. Amaury Justo Duarte, the president of the local refinery (REFIDOMSA), said that talks are ongoing and that although he had concluded discussions with potential suppliers from Europe, it was in the best interests of REFIDOMSA to continue dealing with Venezuela, especially because Venezuelan supplies are just 36 hours away. Industry & Commerce Minister Sonia Guzmán told reporters that the problems with Venezuelan oil are of a technical nature and not tied to politics. According to the minister, many of the key technicians of the Venezuelan refineries went on a strike that was called by groups opposed to President Chávez, and that they have not been reinstated, thus affecting production levels in Venezuela. |
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Unexplained deaths on the border Paterson González of El Caribe reports that the Dominican Human Rights Committee has made known the discovery of 14 bodies, presumed to be of Haitians, near the southwest part of the border. Yesterday, the Attorney General appointed a special commission that will work alongside the Armed Forces to investigate the discovery of the nude bodies. District Attorney Víctor Céspedes said that he would personally supervise the investigation. According to reports, two bodies were found in the forests between Jimaní and Pedernales, but were removed before photos could be taken. In the community of Cruces de Brocosi, Pedernales, four more bodies were found and photos were taken. Pedro Rou, a missionary, found another body in Tatali, and others still were located in Sabana de Canotaje, Bulai de Sabana Grande and Polo. The president of the Dominican Human Rights Commission speculated that Haitians working in the Dominican Republic are robbed and then murdered as they make their way back to Haiti with their earnings. |
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Third try at Channel crossing Dominican long-distance swimmer Marcos Díaz is at it for the third time. Díaz is currently in Dover, England to attempt to become the first Dominican (and perhaps the first from the Caribbean) to cross the Channel between France and England. He failed in two other attempts, including one that brought him after eight hours close enough to see the coast of France. The crossings are carried out under the Channel Swimming Association, which Díaz said has given him a slot between Thursday and next Tuesday to attempt a new crossing. |
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Juan Luis Guerra and Miss Universe at Grammy Dominican contemporary music great Juan Luis Guerra and his niece, Miss Universe Amelia Vega, have been reserved upfront seats to watch the Latin Grammy Awards this evening at the American Airlines Arena in Miami. Guerra is a winner of a Grammy for his “Ni Es Lo Mismo Ni Es Igual (Niágara en Bicicleta)” CD. Four Dominicans have a shot at a Latin Grammy this year -- Milly Quezada, Kinito Méndez, Los Hermanos Rosario, Ilegales and Monchy y Alexandra. Milly Quezada (Pienso Así...), Kinito Méndez (Sigo Siendo El Hombre Merengue) and Los Hermanos Rosario (Swing A Domicilio) are nominated in the Best Merengue Album category. Monchy y Alexandra (Confesiones...) are down for the Best Contemporary Tropical Album. Ilegales (Marca Registrada) are nominated in the Best Pop Album By A Duo Or Group With Vocals category. The show will be televised in the Dominican Republic on TeleAntillas, Channel 2. |
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