Cenantillas, the economic think tank of the Pontificia Universidad Catolica Madre y Maestra, predicted that those buying US dollars will have to pay RD$18.22 at year end. The official buying rate at the moment is RD$16.66 to the US$. Cenantillas also forecasts a year-end growth rate of 4.2%. The decline from last year’s 7.8% is attributed to the higher cost of petroleum.
