2003News

IMF and the Monetary Board

The Monetary Board will meet today with representatives of the banking and financial sectors to review several of the proposals that emerged from yesterday?s discourse between government economists and the President at the Presidential Palace in Santo Domingo. Internal savings are key points on the agenda, reports El Caribe. For its part, the private sector insists that the government achieve a 1- to 1.5-percent savings in the Gross Domestic Product. The Monetary Board, however, contends that it must first await the recommendations of the International Monetary Fund team currently in the country on its yearly visit. The IMF team has been asked, informally, to render its opinion on adequate and appropriate steps to be taken. The private sector wants the government to demonetize RD$400 million pesos a month, rather than the RD$100 million that the government proposes to remove from circulation.