Amidst media speculation that the current extraordinary session of Congress would end without approval of the new Financial and Monetary Code, Senate President Ram?n Alburquerque (PRD-Monte Plata) insisted that the Senate would finish its work on the Code this week no matter what it took. If the Congress does not approve the Code in first reading in the next two weeks, it will have to be introduced in the next regular session of Congress as if it were a completely new bill, requiring a new round of hearings and committee work. Alburquerque rejected speculation that the Senate would deal the Code such a setback. He said that he would invoke weekend work sessions if that is what it took to win final approval. The Code is one of the major economic reforms sought by the Fern?ndez Administration. It would change the rules governing the Central Bank, commercial banks, savings and loan associations, interest rates, financial transactions, issuance of public debt instruments (such as bonds), etc. Most of the Code’s articles were agreed upon by the Senate last week, but a stalemate over the remaining few regarding savings and loan associations have stalled final approval. The S&L industry here is demanding to offer the same range of financial products as commercial banks; without such a reform, S&L’s claim, they will disappear. S&L’s and the commercial banks have requested a delay in Senate work on the Code until they can reach a compromise on the matter. A large portion of regulations included in the Code have already been implemented by monetary authorities and the financial community.
