Central Bank Governor Héctor Valdez Albizu told reporters yesterday that the Dominican Republic will be the only country in Latin America to close out the year without a balance of payments deficit. Valdez Albizu pointed out that just before Hurricane Georges the Bank’s analysts were projecting a balance of payment deficit of US$12.8 million, and after the hurricane this estimate was revised to a US$6.6 million deficit. However, revenue has been better than expected, so the Bank now projects a slight surplus by year-end. He noted that the country has managed to build up net reserves of US$61.9 million, while under its target agreed with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) only called for US$30 million. The DR closed out 1997 with reserves of US$255.4 million. Regarding the DR’s current account, the Bank now estimates its deficit at about 1.5% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), versus current account deficits in the rest of Latin America between 4% and 7.7%.
