The DR is to structure a set of fuel products that will allow it to receive the 50,000 barrels of oil daily as stipulated in the Petro-Caribbean Agreement, according to a report in Diario Libre. Over the next few days, the Dominican Petroleum Refinery (Refidomsa) and the Ministry of Industry and Commerce will be defining the way in which orders will be placed for Venezuelan petroleum to increase imports from 35,000 to 50,000 barrels. Both institutions will also make adjustments in the contracts that the country has signed with Mexico, Colombia, Brazil and other nations, to ensure that the credit benefits offered by Petro-Caribbean are used to the best advantage. This was discussed at a meeting led by President Leonel Fernandez and attended by Aristides Fernandez Zucco, president of Refidomsa, Rafael Maradiaga, general manager of Shell, Presidency Minister Danilo Medina, Industry & Commerce Minister Francisco Javier Garcia, and Minister Miguel Mejia.
After the meeting, Medina explained that since Venezuela is experiencing difficulties to supply the amounts required of certain fuels that the DR needs, the government has to identify the products that can be offered with fewer problems to ensure that the quota is purchased in full.
Regarding the transportation of fuel, he informed that Venezuelan Ambassador Francisco Belisario Landis, who also participated in the meeting, will agree on the cost with his government, as the freight of crude oil is not the same as that of finished products. Fernandez Zucco had disputed the additional cost of the CIF agreement that had been reached for the Petrocaribe deal with Venezuela. Fernandez Zucco announced that the next oil shipment under the Petro-Caribbean Agreement would arrive next week, after revealing that the cost of freight will be readjusted by Petroleos de Venezuela, S.A.
Listin Diario reports that the DR will benefit from 50,000 barrels per day beginning next week. Fernandez Zucco announced he had received the contracts for the purchase of products within the Petro-Caribbean Agreement and stated that although they were costlier for the country, they would solve the problem that kept the refinery delivering fuel by quotas. In a press conference held at the Presidential Palace, Danilo Medina said that the disagreement between Ambassador Belisario Landis and Fernandez Zucco does not involve the governments of Venezuela and the DR.
Just several days after his public confrontation with a Dominican government official, Venezuelan Ambassador Francisco Belisario Landis was summoned by his country's Ministry of Foreign Relations, according to Diario Libre. While disclosing this information, the diplomat said he was to present a routine report as ambassador, on leaving a meeting with President Leonel Fernandez and several officials of his team to guarantee the fulfillment of the Petro-Caribbean Agreement. Landis said he would present his complete support to the agreement which offers credit facilities to the DR for the purchase of crude oil. Although he did not mention the conflict with the President of the Dominican Petroleum Refinery (Refidomsa), Aristides Fernandez Zucco, the ambassador stated that "controversies are not good".
Central Bank authorities are traveling to Washington today to finalize the letter of intent of the Stand-By Agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Governor Hector Valdez Albizu stated that the parameters agreed upon with the IMF, in both fiscal and monetary terms, are being complied with easily. Valdez Albizu insisted that the government has managed its fiscal policy with strict austerity and that it has had a fiscal surplus of RD$10.6 billion as of last June. He said that the government had inherited a difficult fiscal situation, since last year the deficit of the non-financial public sector was -3.3%. This has to be diminished during this year to
-0.7% within the IMF agreement's program. He said that the RD$10.6 billion surplus will have to be used to cover the effects of the increase in the price of oil and the LPG subsidy. He highlighted that thanks to the austere and disciplined fiscal policy maintained by the government, instead of having a RD$6 billion deficit as programmed by the IMF, it has a RD$10.6 billion surplus.
Central Bank Governor Hector Valdez Albizu declared yesterday that the country has sufficient US dollars to satisfy local demand and warned "sectors interested" in de-stabilizing the exchange market that they would lose their money if they tried to speculate with the US currency, because the monetary authority will not allow the rate to increase. Valdez Albizu mentioned Andres Dauhajre, Jr and Fundacion Economia y Desarrollo as some of the parties interested in creating panic in the exchange market. He pointed out that the Dominican Petroleum Refinery (Refidomsa) does not need dollars from the local market, that the foreign debt payments for the next three months are covered, that commercial banks have a US$356 million surplus of the currency and the Central Bank has reserves higher than required by the International Monetary Fund (IMF). He informed that he will be traveling to Washington today on a mission of the government's economic team to finalize the revision of the first two quarters of the IMF agreement.
92% of businesspeople polled by the National Association of Young Entrepreneurs (ANJE) in February said they were optimistic that the economic situation of the country would improve, reports Hoy newspaper. Today, only 61.3% are optimistic. ANJE explains that the decline in confidence in government policies is the result of the authorities failing to have presented concrete and measurable solutions to leading national problems, such as the Central Bank's so-called quasi-fiscal debt, the electricity problem, the efficient use of government spending and the struggle against corruption. Seventy-seven percent of businesspeople polled expected interest rates and the exchange rate to increase in the next three months.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has raised the projected growth of Dominican GDP for 2005 and 2006 to 4.5% in its "World Economic Perspectives" semester report, according to El Caribe. The increase in GDP is two points higher than the 2.5% originally forecast in its previous report last April. Inflation is projected at 3.7% this year, down from a forecasted 8.9%. However, the Fund forecasts that prices will increase again in 2006 and the consumer index will increase by 7.8%.
Commenting on the IMF's revised key macroeconomic projections, Franco Uccelli of Bear Stearns says: "We believe that given the Dominican economy's positive momentum, the IMF's revised growth forecast for this year is more realistic than its original estimate. Moreover, with the economy expanding by 5.8% during the first half of the year, we also believe that there is a high probability that the country will outperform even the more bullish projection."
The President of the Republic of China (Taiwan), Chen Shui-bian, will arrive in the DR tomorrow on a two-day official visit during which he will follow a busy agenda that includes meetings with President Leonel Fernandez. Listin Diario reports that Chen Shui-bian will be accompanied by a delegation that includes the deputy Prime Minister, Dr. Wu Rong-i, Foreign Relations Minister, Chen Tan-sun, and other high-level officials such as the Ministers of Economy, Transportation and Communications, Overseas Chinese Affairs, and Information. Also visiting will be lawmakers, business leaders, and members of the press. He will be received at the Presidential Palace by President Leonel Fernandez and will be visited by the Presidents of the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies, Andres Bautista and Alfredo Pacheco, as well as leaders of the Chinese community in the DR. The objective of President Chen's visit is to strengthen and improve the relations that both nations have enjoyed for over 60 years.
A substitute judge at the Central Electoral Board (JCE) says that the civil registry officer who spoke out about the profiteering at civil registry offices should be praised and not reprimanded by the JCE, as reported in Hoy newspaper. Substitute judge and Central Electoral Board member Jorge Eligio Mendez Perez said that the members of the JCE wanted to penalize Luis Felipe Rodriguez for telling the press the truth over the weekend. Rodriguez, civil registry officer of the 12th Circumscription of Santo Domingo, said last weekend that historically the civil registry offices are institutions for the enrichment of the officers. He recommended that the JCE should instead assign them fixed salaries at sufficiently attractive levels for them to remain in the post. Mendez Perez said that the officers are feudal. He explained that in the past, civil registry officers were in the hands of the political parties, but that they now belonged to some of the JCE judges. He called the raffle "a genocide of economic interests that prevail in regards to civil registry officers". Mendez Perez said that he was privy to information that all but one judge on the board had participated in a raffle of the civil registry officers to appoint people who would be loyal to him, as reported in Hoy newspaper. Mendez Perez pointed out that this means that the civil registry officers are subservient to their patrons and upon accepting jobs under those conditions will only serve the interests of those particular JCE officers. Mendez Perez is professor of law at PUCMM and UNPHU. He warned that while the officers are dependent on their patron, the law would not prevail, only the authority of the person who named them.
Mendez Perez criticized the JCE's negligence in permitting that in this day and age over two million Dominicans still do not have a legal identity, a situation that only increases poverty. He said that the money the JCE has spent on travel abroad could be used to resolve the major deficiencies that affect the country's 158 locales.
Instead of reprimanding Rodriguez for his statements, Mendez Perez considers that the JCE should send a letter of thanks to Rodriguez for the decent, conscientious and quality work he is carrying out in the Los Mina area of the province of Santo Domingo.
He commented that during Juan Sully Bonelly's presidency at the JCE a study was done to grant categories to the civil registry offices and establish wages accordingly. "But when they found out that this change would not yield profits for third parties, this was left without effect," he explained. He proposes that wages should be fixed after the study is updated, to take into consideration the services and number of people served by each office.
Public hearings will be held by the Chamber of Deputies on Tuesday and Wednesday next week, to listen to opinions about the tax reform bill, the bills that make the Customs and Tax Departments autonomous, and the bill for Collection Efficiency, all submitted by the Executive Branch. Diario Libre reports that this was announced by Marino Collante, president of the Finance Committee of the Chamber of Deputies, who explained that two days were scheduled in view of the large number of requests received from different sectors of society. On Thursday, 6 October, the Deputies will hold a meeting with representatives of the Association of Commercial Banks at 10 am and with the National Association of Hotels and Restaurants (Asonahores) at 11 am. Last Tuesday, the government's economic team explained the scope of the tax reform bill to the Deputies. Among other things, Technical Secretary Temistocles Montas warned lawmakers that the government cannot afford to have one penny reduced from next year's estimated income because that would put the 2006 budget and the IMF agreement in danger. Meanwhile, PRD, the PRSC and the PRSD parties have reaffirmed that they would not approve a broader VAT (ITBIS) which the bill wants to apply to 200 products that are considered basic foodstuffs.
Political, business, union, and civil society sectors will debate the Tax Reform with the government's economic team during a seminar organized by the Social-Christian Reform Party (PRSC), with the intention of reaching a consensus that will make its approval easier, as reported by El Caribe. The event begins at 8 am today and ends tomorrow at 6 pm. It is being held at the party's main building. Presentations announced include representatives of all sectors, such as Grupo E. Leon Jimenes, the National Association of Hotels and Restaurants (Asonahores), DR Association of Industries, the Association of Young Businessmen, the Dominican Association of Producers, and the Directors of the Customs and Tax Departments.
The Customs Department has announced that another 13 courier companies will begin to operate according to the regulations of Decree No. 402-05. With this new group a total of 16 private express postal companies which were intervened by the authorities will now have to start operating according to Customs regulations. El Caribe reports that the companies agreed to comply with the regulations as they understand that it forces operations to become more transparent and avoid undervaluation, smuggling and customs fraud. An additional 300 companies that were operating without permits are still being intervened by Customs.
Direct Expert, a Las Vegas, Nevada company has agreed to invest RD$130 million in the refurbishment of two state-owned hotels that are currently abandoned. Emely Cruz, director of the Corporation of State-owned Hotels (CORPHOTELS), specifies that Direct Expert will refurbish and manage Villa Suiza Hotel in Sabana de la Mar and Santa Cruz Hotel in El Seibo, for a period of 30 years. The company has plans to install casinos. The contract also indicates that once they begin operating, the State will receive US$2,500 per month for the rental of each hotel. This amount will be revised after six years. Cruz said that the reopening of those hotels will dynamize the economy in the region.
District Attorney Jose Manuel Hernandez Peguero has informed that he has instructed the International Police (INTERPOL) to arrest former colonel Pedro Julio "Pepe" Goico Guerrero in order for him to be questioned about his involvement in the Quirino Ernesto Paulino Castillo drug trafficking case. According to Diario Libre, the DA is awaiting the sentence of the Criminal Chamber of the National District Court of Appeals regarding the case, to complete the processing of his jurisdiction. Judge Antonio Sanchez Mejia had rejected a habeas corpus resource in Goico's favor. Goico, former personal security officer to Hipolito Mejia, is living in Spain where he is attending a course in advanced military studies at Complutense University in Madrid. He is required to return to the DR for questioning about his involvement in the case of the 1,387 kilos of cocaine that were seized in Santo Domingo last December. Paulino Castillo is being detained in the US where he faces drug trafficking and money laundering charges in relation to that case.
The National Drug Council (CND) has developed a bill aimed at "cleansing" public administration workers of the use of narcotics and which is being analyzed by the President's legal advisor before sending it to Congress. Listin Diario reports that in this bill, all members of the Judicial Branch, the Justice Department, the Central Electoral Board, the General Accounting Office, the Armed Forces, the National Police, as well as public officials and employees will have to take a drug test without exceptions. CND president, Major General Jose Anibal Sanz Jiminian stated that if the measures set forth in the bill are not enforced, the use of narcotics will not diminish in the country, as "addicts could be anywhere".
The National Drug Control Department (DNCD) arrested a Dutch citizen at the Gregorio Luperon Airport in Puerto Plata, when he tried to leave the country with four bottles of rum containing liquid cocaine with a total weight of 3.361 kgs. According to El Caribe, the alleged drug trafficker was identified as 35-year-old Johnny Charles Louis Blomsma. His arrest took place as he was boarding Arke Fly flight 342 to Amsterdam. DNCD spokesman Buenaventura Bueno Torres said the bottles with the drug were being transported by Blomsma in a suitcase that was part of his luggage. He was arrested in the presence of a District Attorney assigned to the anti-narcotics institution, said Bueno.
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