DR1 Daily News - Dominican Republic

The Executive Branch sent a whopping RD$1.5 trillion budget to the National Congress late last week. This is the first step in the restructuring of the government that was recently announced.

According to the estimates offered to the press, the Abinader administration expects to cover about RD$1.2 trillion (15/3% of GDP) of the budget through more effective tax collections and a positive overall economic situation.

With the usual government verbiage, the statements concerning the budget call for sustained economic growth and state that the priorities are health, education, jobs, social programs, transportation and national security.

As per the budget bill, some 4% of this budget will go to the unified Ministry of Education, covering elementary, secondary and higher education areas.

Tourism development is also a big line item of this budget as are the mass...