Reporter Esteban Delgado of El Caribe shows that the
Central Bank was unable to renegotiate the foreign debt as was stipulated in the
law that facilitated the issuance of the US$600 million in sovereign bonds last
January. According to Delgado, 50% of the bond issue was meant to be used to pay
foreign debt and renegotiate longer and better terms on its remainder. It
appears, however, that the money was used instead to pay the debt service
charges for 2003. Part of the problem seems to stem from the devaluation of the
peso on one hand and the insufficient funds received from the gasoline taxes on
the other. Central Bank Governor Jos? Lois Malkum confirmed that the Central
Bank had not received the RD$2 billion collected under Law 112-00, known as the
Hydrocarbon Law. Economist Pedro Silverio has put the figure closer to RD$3
billion.
Malkum blamed the Pan-Am Games for the non-payment. In spite of directing US$150
million to the Central Bank?s hard currency reserves, El Caribe?s Esteban
Delgado says that the reserves are nearing an all-time low.