2003 – Page 6

In a comparison of the Dominican Republic to China, Hoy’s Rafael Molina Morillo tells of a Chinese official convicted of corruption and executed. “Just like here!” according to Molina, with a few exceptions. In the first place, there is no death penalty in the Dominican Republic, no matter what the crime. Another small difference is …

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Ramon Baez Figueroa and his cousin Marcos Baez Cocco, the former president and vice-president of the Banco Intercontinental (Baninter), were granted bail on Friday and are expected to be released to their families today. The Qualification Chamber of the National District courts set bail at RD$100 million. The pair is accused of pilfering RD$55 billion …

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Saturday’s Diario Libre carried Anibal de Castro’s most acerbic editorial in memory, bearing the title “The Economist’s blame party”. Calling The Economist a temple of liberalism and particular English humor, De Castro looks at their most recent advice: that the IMF should not lend any money to the Dominican Republic because “Any money that the …

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El Caribe newspaper asks Dominican politicians to give Dominicans the ultimate Christmas gift: a 10-day political hiatus so the holidays can be celebrated in peace. The editorial writer says the truce would also enable the politicians to take a vacation, thus giving the people and the media a chance to dedicate more time and space …

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It is reported that President Hipolito Mejia is making a swift trip to the Central American state of Belize, to sign some agreements with the Belizean government and hold meetings with potential investors and other business representatives. According to the Diario Libre, Mejia will meet with representatives of SICA (Central American Integration System), which is …

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Jose Alfredo Rizek, the executive director of the Foundation for Institutionalism and Justice (FINJUS), comments today that the government may be trying to pull a sort of fast-track tributary reform and he alerts Congress to the challenge it has before it. Rizek writes to explain that if Congress approves the budget as is, it automatically …

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Hoy newspaper leads with a warning from within the PRD ranks that the 2004 budget is in danger of becoming the subject of internal party wrangles. This would be at the expense of the country’s social and macro-economic development, said the Senate’s budget committee president, Manuel Emilio Ramirez Perez, and the PRD Senator for San …

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Standard & Poor’s ratings services said today it has lowered its long-term foreign and local currency sovereign credit ratings for the Dominican Republic from B- to CCC. With its continued negative outlook, credit analyst Richard Francis says the DR faces a severe liquidity crisis. He explains: “There is a substantial risk that delays restarting its …

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Franco Uccelli, who follows the DR for the Bear Stearns brokerage firm, interprets the S&P downgrading in an update today. “For the Dominican Republic to avoid default in 2004, it needs to get the IMF program back on track (time frame: next three weeks) and keep it on track (time frame: next 12 months).” Uccelli …

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The peso continued its upward trend with latest reports valuing it at RD$35 to the US dollar, although dollars remain scarce in the currency exchange market. A comment on a morning radio program gave rise to rumors that Vimenca Bank was in danger of collapse. This report was dismissed outright by the Central Bank, whose …

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