Technical Secretary of the Presidency Carlos Despradel will present the RD$120-billion 2004 National Budget to the National Development Council at the Presidential Palace. According to reports, the budget will be sent tomorrow to Congress, where it must be approved before the Christmas break. The government is purportedly counting on resources from a 5% tax on exports, currently awaiting approval from the Chamber of Deputies, as well as from increases to already existing taxes, so as to meet revenue levels set by the International Monetary Fund. Officers of the IMF have been in the DR for talks regarding the resumption of the suspended IMF agreement. Despradel said he trusted the officers would be able to return to Washington tomorrow with the now-sanctioned agreements regarding government revenues and spending in order to secure a final approval to resume the two-year standby arrangement with the IMF.
With foreign debt obligations having doubled during the first three years of the Mejia government, economist and former director of the National Planning Office during the Leonel Fernandez government Rafael Camilo said that the government next year will need RD$40 billion to pay foreign debt, reported Hoy newspaper. Camilo said the government will need to make US$1 billion in payments on hard currency obligations plus RD$24 billion to cover savings deposits it has taken on as part of the Mejia administration's response to the collapse of three commercial banks. Camilo also mentioned that the government owes billions to government contractors, suppliers, and domestic commercial banks, which translates into a need to allot 70% of the 2004 National Budget to debt payment. He said the government is choosing increase taxes, as apparently has been agreed with the IMF. He also pointed out that the government has issued RD$98 billion in money that is not backed by hard currency reserves, according to data from the Central Bank. Camilo commented that this practice stimulated capital flight, which is estimated at US$3.5 billion, given the steep devaluation of the peso and the continued lack of confidence in the present government. Camilo criticized that in handling the collapse of the Baninter commercial bank, the government had given priority to the interests of a government-related group, authorizing RD$40 billion in disbursements prior to the intervention of the Central Bank, at a pace of RD$2-RD$3 billion a day. He said this was even admitted by Governor of the Central Bank Jose Lois Malkum, who said that security trucks spent days transporting enormous quantities of money to the branches of the bank. Camilo spoke on the TV program "Enfoque Semanal", produced by Julio Cesar Jerez Whisky on Channel 15 Telemicro. Camilo said that the large amount of pesos in circulation had spiraled into the initial steep depreciation of the Dominican currency, as anyone who could went on a dollar-buying spree.
The Executive Branch needs congressional approval for a US$200-million emergency loan from the Interamerican Development Bank. The government says these funds would be used to make payments due to the power generation companies and to support social programs of the Education and Public Health ministries. The disbursement of the loan is pending the resumption of the International Monetary Fund agreement, which was suspended after the government assumed new financial commitments with the buyback of the power distribution companies. Also pending the IMF agreement is a US$100-million loan program to be used to reform the financial sector and strengthen the structure and rulings of the Central Bank and the Superintendence of Banks.
Pope John Paul II, during the accreditation ceremony for the new Dominican ambassador to the Vatican, Carlos Rafael Conrado Marion Landais, mentioned the worsening standard of living of the Dominican population, as reported in El Caribe newspaper. "Internal and external causes have produced a serious deterioration and certain decline in the quality of life of Dominicans. To resolve those problems, the public interest should be the objective for which the Church, without assuming challenges that do not pertain to its mission, provides its collaboration to the government and society," said the Pope. He also mentioned that in today's world it is not enough to adhere to market laws and globalization, that there is a need to promote solidarity. When asked to comment on the Pope's statement, President Hipolito Mejia said he concurred and that he had recently made similar statements. He emphasized that he is a man who was brought up in the Catholic Church.
In a 15 December country briefing, The Economist says those protesting the economic hardships in the Dominican Republic should not blame the IMF for their plight. Describing the Mejia administration as "an incompetent government", the magazine's news analysis adds, "They should blame Mr. Mejia." According to The Economist, "Mr. Mejia's mind is on politics." The analysis states: "Any money that the Fund might give to the Dominican Republic in the next few months is likely to be wasted on pre-election spending. Until the politicians show signs of taking responsibility for their actions, it is hard to see why they deserve any help from the Fund." The Economist comments that the IMF is in an awkward position of having to decide whether or not to resume a US$600-million loan program as agreed upon in August but which was suspended in October when the government without prior warning bought back the power distributors for a comparable amount. In its analysis of the present economic difficulties, The Economist also disapproved of the fact that the government, instead of compensating depositors of Baninter to the legal ceiling amount of RD$500,000, went on to guarantee all the collapsed bank's liabilities, including offshore deposits. "Three-quarters of this money went to 80 account holders," states The Economist report, while it notes that Dominicans will soon feel the cost of that, as the government struggles to get its finances under control by raising taxes to close the fiscal gap. Regardless of the fiscal effort, the intelligence service notes that receipts have been lower than expected. The Economist says that businesspeople "are reluctant to pay more taxes as long as the government fails to cut its spending."
Moises Pineda, representative of the Interamerican Development Bank in the Dominican Republic, announced the signing of a US$5.5-million loan to contribute to the increase of Dominican exports. Foreign Relations Minister Francisco Guerrero Prats signed on behalf of the Dominican Republic with Pineda. Also present at the ceremony was Industry & Commerce Minister Sonia Guzman and the director of the Center for the Promotion of Exports and Investments (CEI-RD), Danilo del Rosario.
Diario Libre reports today there are indications that certain names of individuals linked to the PLD political party but officially registered as members of the PRD on the voting list for the aborted 14 December primary were submitted by the PPH faction of the PRD. In addition to the PLD members, there are also indications that members of the military and the PRSC were included on the new members registered by the PPH faction of the PRD. Hoy newspaper says that Ortiz Bosch, Subervi and Esquea are now conditioning their participation in the primary to the exclusion of the 7% total of police officers and military who were registered, in addition to the 300,000 members of opposing political parties entered. Names of PRSC leaders, such as Federico (Quique) Antun, Amable Aristy Castro and even Cardinal Nicolas Lopez Rodriguez, were added to the PRD member voters list. Hoy's "Que se Dice" column comments on the blatant errors in the list, with members of the military appearing in military garb in their photos. The military are not eligible to vote in the Dominican Republic. The Diario Libre says there is a hypothesis among the three pre-candidates who oppose President Mejia's re-election that the PPH faction (which backs re-election) made mistakes while attempting to fraudulently pad the electoral roster.
The PRD Presidential pre-candidates met yesterday for 50 minutes with President Hipolito Mejia to discuss preparations for their upcoming primary. The press speculated that pre-candidates Milagros Ortiz Bosch, Rafael Subervi and Enmanuel Esquea could still decide not to participate in the convention that has been rescheduled for this Sunday, 21 December, given the widespread irregularities found in the list. The 21 December primary will be the second such convention called by the PRD. In a first primary held 7 December, party president Hatuey de Camps was chosen as the PRD candidate for the 16 May Presidential election. His opponent Rafael Abinader accused de Camps of extensive fraud. President Hipolito Mejia, commenting on the PRD voting list, said: "The problem of the (PRD) voting list is a routine problem and there is a technical commission in charge of that and the candidates should not get involved." While saying that any difficulty would be easy to resolve, he told Hoy reporters that he is sure he will win the primary. One of the possible solutions now being contemplated is to ditch the current lists and revert to that of 1999.
Speaking on the "Hoy Mismo" TV show on Channel 9, PRD party president Hatuey de Camps said that Milagros Ortiz Bosch, Rafael Subervi and Enmanuel Esquea would be entering not a primary but rather "a massacre and gas chamber" regarding the PRD party convention set for Sunday, 21 December. De Camps said the government has transferred the names on the government payroll to the PRD voting list for the primaries so as to make it appear that Mejia has the support of the majority of the Dominican people. "The payroll has been entered and they have been made to appear as PRD and re-election supporters," said de Camps. He mentioned that the government had disbursed RD$32 million to provincial governors to prepare for the primary, in addition to the authorization of tax exemptions on vehicle imports for mayors. Furthermore, he mentioned that the National Lottery has been distributing aid to encourage support for re-election. He said that President Mejia has not had any qualms about abusing the resources of the state to impose his re-election. De Camps also said that government officers have been seen traveling in helicopters and distributing bags of money in Rancho Arriba, Ocoa and other southern regions. He complained that the President is also making use of government-intervened Baninter electronic media to further his cause. "You see President Mejia canvassing the entire country, going everywhere, while the economy is full of problems. That is the tragedy of re-election. Because if he has to take strong measures, they will not be taken because that affects the electoral process."
The Public Works Ministry announced the closing of the 27 de Febrero and Maximo Gomez intersection for the installation of a pedestrian crossing. The crossway will be closed from 10pm Tuesday night until 6am on Wednesday.
The Dominican Association of Cement Producers has taken Presidential Decree 36-02 to the Supreme Court, on grounds that the decree grants preferential market conditions to the Cemento Andino company that is installing a cement factory in the Parque Industrial Minero de Pedernales. The cement producers say that the decree issued 10 January 2002 violates the Constitution by exempting the company from paying taxes, which they say equates to unfair competition with the other producers. The cement producers say that the decree is also unjust because the contract with the company was not sent to the National Congress.
Mario Alvarez, the several-times Central American table tennis champion, is working to develop a new generation of Dominican table tennis champions, as reported in Hoy newspaper. As many of the state-of-the-art facilities built by the government for the 2003 Pan American Games at the Parque del Este lie in various states of abandon, Alvarez' Table Tennis Academy at the park has seen the most activity over the past four months. "I don't know if the construction of the other sports facilities were good or bad, but I am convinced that the table tennis pavilion will not be too big for the sport," he told Hoy newspaper. Alvarez said that a year ago in the National District and Province of Santo Domingo, there were no more than 10 ping pong players in all, while today there are 71 registered. He is convinced that in five years' time, the academy will supply the next champions to the national table tennis team. He said in addition to international coach Jim Fu, they have on staff the best table tennis coaches in the country.
The Dominican Republic won its first competition in the NORCECA Women's Olympic qualifying tournament taking place at the Juan Pablo Duarte Olympic Center volleyball pavilion at 6pm and 8pm. The DR defeated Mexico 3-0 (27-17, 25-16 and 25-8). The DR team, ranked 14th in the world, goes up today against Canada, who, on the opening day of the tournament, was defeated by Cuba (25-18, 25-14, 26-24 and 25-19). Only the winning team will gain a berth for next year's Olympics, where the next highest world-ranked NORCECA team that hasn't yet qualified will have a second opportunity to compete in the South American Olympic qualifying tournament in January. Other participants in the tournament consist of Cuba (ranked 6th in the world), Canada (20th), Puerto Rico (17th) and Mexico (35th). The teams will play in a round-robin format from 15 to 21 December, with the top four teams qualifying for the semi-final round. The team with the best record will face the fourth-place side and the second-best team will meet the third-place side to decide the players of the gold-medal match and bestow the chance to represent the Americas in the Olympics, along with the already-qualified USA team. Cuba and the Dominican Republic are considered favourites of the event and the matches are being locally televised for Dominican audiences. The schedule for the tournament is as follows:
15 December: Cuba vs Canada, Dominicana vs Mexico;
16 December: Puerto Rico vs Cuba, Dominicana vs Canada;
17 December: Mexico vs Canada, Dominicana vs Puerto Rico;
18 December: Mexico vs Puerto Rico, Dominicana vs Cuba;
19 December: Puerto Rico vs Canada, Mexico vs Cuba;
20 December: 2nd vs 3rd, 1st vs 4th.
21 December: Match to decide third place, and match for first place and qualification for Olympic Games.
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