The Senate announced it will begin peddling the bonds in interior towns in July. A first public hearing will take place on Wednesday, 27 June at the Congress. The president of the commission to study the bonds, Victor Castillo, said they will take more time to study the bill than what the President had initially wanted. Castillo said they need to study the RD$5,000 million in bonds issued two years ago by the Fernandez government and how much of that has been repaid. Also, they will study five other countries that have recently issued sovereign bonds in international capital markets. Likewise, the commission has requested a report on how the Dominican Republic has managed sovereign bond issues in the past. Reportedly, the first bonds were issued in 1868. The Senate has also requested a detailed report from the Technical Secretariat of the Presidency on what the government will use the funds for.
