The Monetary Board yesterday afternoon approved the direct sale of hard currencies as of today. This means that exporters and any others who receive dollars, Euros or other hard currencies may sell directly to the market, without going though the Central Bank. As reported in yesterday?s DR1 News, Samir Rizek favors that those who produce dollars be able to sell them on the local market. According to Mario M?ndez, the economic editor of Hoy newspaper, this measure would also be a hard hit for the oligopoly that now controls the money markets.
In a related story, El Caribe reports that the Senate is considering the restoration of ?Operation Duarte?, a policy enacted during the government of Joaqu?n Balaguer in 1988 to forcibly control the exchange rate. The policy was successful in the short run and then led to the development of a strong parallel market.
Nevertheless, both the president of the Senate, Andr?s Bautista (PRD-Espaillat), and the president of the Senate Finance Committee, C?sar D?az Filpo (PRD-Azua), propose that the Central Bank assume total control of all hard currencies for a period of between 90 to 120 days. They warned that if the government does not take drastic action the dollar could soar to levels as high as RD$50 to the US dollar. D?az Filpo suggested bringing back Operation Duarte to put an end to speculation in the exchange market. Most of the Senate committee members supported the idea, with only the PLD senator, Jos? Tom?s P?rez, taking a stand against it, because he felt that the rise in the price of the dollar was not due to speculation but rather a result of the fact that the government had added RD$25 billion to the money in circulation.