DR1 Daily News - Dominican Republic

Haivanjoe Ng Cortiñas issued a sharp rebuttal to President Luis Abinader’s recent optimistic economic outlook, characterizing the first-quarter 2026 budget execution as “alarming” and a direct contradiction to the administration’s claims of fiscal strength, as reported in Listin Diario.

According to Cortiñas, official data reveals a primary operating deficit where total revenues are failing to cover even the government’s basic day-to-day functional expenses.

Cortiñas says the government is spending beyond means. He highlighted two critical figures to illustrate the current fiscal imbalance. Between 1 January and 20 March 2026, total government revenue reached RD$261,747 million, while total spending surged to RD$327,459 million.

The result is a staggering overall deficit of RD$65.71 billion thus far this year.

“Technically, the country is in a position of temporary...