According to the Central Bank, the Consumer Price Index for May shows that inflation was 0.54%. Inflation for the first four months of the year in 1994 was 5.12% and, in 1995, 3.06%. The Bank says that food has gone up by 0.19%, housing 0.15%, clothing 0.12% and other items 0.47%. The low inflation rate is said to reflect the current restrictive policy imposed by the Central Bank to guarantee macroeconomic and monetary stability.
Commenting on the half percent inflation for the first four months of the year, the president of the Associación de Empresas Industriales de Herrera, Cesar Nicolas Penson, said that it reflects that the Dominican economy is healthy and that there is macroeconomic stability.
Interviewed by the Listin Diario, Francisco Mancebo, president of the Federación Nacional de Comerciantes Detallistas, said that the restrictive monetary policy in effect by the Central Bank has caused sales to decline 40%, when compared to last year’s levels. He said this is a result of what he called “the semi-paralysis affecting the country” as a result of the elections. He maintains that people are only buying what they really need.