Diario Libre headlines that the high-level delegation that went to Washington, D.C. last Thursday has returned with US$800 million in loans. According to the newspaper, the President?s monetary team will call a meeting with the financial and industrial leaders of the DR to report on the financial assistance package they have secured. There are several hundred million dollars in additional funding from international organizations, including the Eximbank.
List?n Diario says that the United States ?guarantees help? for the Dominican economy and Central Bank Governor Jos? Lois Malkum told the press that the U.S. assistance is intended to help the economy recover and simultaneously stabilize the exchange rate. Presidential Minister for Technical Affairs Carlos Despradel said that part of the money needed to fill the ?hole? left by the Baninter debacle would have to come from internal savings because the external aid package would not cover all losses. Despradel said that a group of Dominican technicians are in Washington, D.C. working with the financial experts from the Inter American Development Bank and the International Monetary Fund. Their job is to analyze the macro-economic indicators of the Dominican economy and verify how much economic assistance is needed by the government to counter the Baninter losses.
For his part, President Mej?a warned yesterday that the problem of the exchange rate would require ?great? measures, but did not specify any plan of action. At the ceremony celebrating the 58th Anniversary of Banco Agr?cola, the governmental agriculture lending institution, the President said that there were plenty of dollars entering the system to be bought and sold, but that if there was something hidden, ?we are uncertain as to what it is,? as reported in El Caribe.