President Hipólito Mejía doesn’t like the idea of the US dollar being the legal tender in the DR. Neither does Frank Guerrero Prats, governor of the Central Bank favor the idea. The idea has been around for many years, but is again making local headlines as more Latin American countries adopt the US currency. So far, Puerto Rico, Panama, Ecuador, El Salvador and more recently Guatemala have gone the way of the US dollar. The economic research center of the Pontificia Universidad Catolica Madre y Maestra, Cenantillas is promoting the idea (see http://www.dr1.com/daily/news022101.shtml). "I have a concept of sovereignty and logic, and before I allow impositions from abroad, I will implement them here. I will do this with the Central Bank and the Monetary Board. My monetary and fiscal policy is clear," said President Mejia. The governor of the Central Bank says that the DR does not need to adopt the US dollar because monetary and fiscal discipline has prevailed. The representative in the DR of the Interamerican Development Bank, Stephen McGaughey said that before the US dollar becomes legal tender in any country, that country has to accumulate high reserves of US currency. Economists Rolando Reyes and Carlos Despradel told El Siglo newspaper that it would not resolve the problems of the economy. In Hoy newspaper, the Consejo Nacional de la Empresa Privada says it will prepare several debates so the matter can be discussed by the business sectors. The president of the Santo Domingo Chamber of Commerce, Jose Manuel Armenteros feels that in the long run, the adoption of the US currency would be convenient for the country.
