The lead story in the List?n Diario says that the electrical distributors owe the government RD$500 million for energy sold to them by the CDEEE (Dominican Corporation of State owned Electrical Enterprises ? the new name for the Dominican Electric Corporation). Finance Minister Rafael Calder?n said there are tax issues pending with these companies, and told reporters at the same time that the government would present a proposal to the electric generators to compensate for the devaluation of the peso and to avoid to have to increase the power rate.
During the press conference, Calder?n said that the debts in dollars the government had with the electric generators would begin to be paid next month with money from a loan from the World Bank. The World Bank has conditioned lending the money to the government signing an agreement with the IMF.