2003 – Page 283

President Hipolito Mejia commented yesterday on the statement by Father Jose Luis Aleman in Hoy newspaper that the government is ?technically broke.?  When asked by reporters, President Mejia was first hesitant to answer Aleman?s comments, as if he were assuming that Hoy newspaper had exaggerated Aleman?s comments. He first replied that ?Cuchito? (Virgilio ?lvarez Dugan, …

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As reported in El Nacional newspaper, Father Jose Luis Aleman criticized the government for coming to the rescue of banks that have gone bankrupt because of bad management. He said that the government should let these fail and then force these to sell their assets and refund depositors. He said that the government?s practice of …

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El Nacional reports today that the employees at the Instituto Postal Dominicano (Inposdom), the post office, went on strike today demanding their wages for November, December and the first half of January.  Ultima Hora newspaper reported yesterday that employees at the ministries of Health, Agriculture, Education, Sports, Public Works, Foreign Relations, Tourism, Interior & Police, …

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Last Wednesday Antonio Pantoja, the vice president of Union Fenosa International announced that the company is willing to reduce its interest rates, on a US$200 million loan to the distribution companies from the current 24 percent to 12 percent and then to 9 percent. The reduction in interest accrued would represent savings of US$42 million …

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The Ege Haina power generation company notified the government that it would disconnect from the power grid tomorrow because it cannot sustain its rising debt with Union Fenosa power distributors. Ege Haina supplies 400,000 megawatts, or 35 percent of the local production, according to a report in the Listin Diario. The company says that Union …

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The pricing for the Dominican sovereign bonds placed yesterday has a spread of 493 points compared to the 10-year US treasury, making its interest rate a 9.04 percent. The interest rate for these bonds are 46 points lower then the last sovereign bonds placed in 2001 for US$500 million. The interest payments will be every …

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Yesterday the Progreso financial group announced their acquisition of the Corporan Circuit. The process began last September when the Progreso Group announced its plan to acquire the media company. The deal was final on 12 December of last year. The Corporan media network runs three of the most prominent news radiobroadcasts and has another nine …

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The Dominican Exporters Association (ADOEXPO) protested the recent presidential decree that establishes a US$95 fee for load verification using X-rays. Exporters claim this measure will affect them in a significant matter since imported raw materials are also subject to a $25 verification fee. Representatives from ADOEXPO emphasized that the fiscal burden on their sector has …

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The Mejia government yesterday inaugurated the new handball pavilion of the Complejo Deportivo Parque del Este, the sports park area where several of the venues for the summer Pan American Games are being built. The handball events for the Central American and Caribbean Games took place there last November.  The facility was built at a …

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Jose Acevedo pitched the first complete game in the Dominican baseball league in two years while striking out 10 in a resounding 5-0 defeat of the Leones de Escogido. Luis Polonia continued his hot hitting with a home run and a double, knocking in two runs and establishing a new tournament record for hits. The …

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