2003 – Page 74

A subsidy for propane gas will forestall a price hike this week, according to President Hipolito Mejia, who also reaffirmed the need to continue spending RD$300 million a month to provide electricity to the various underprivileged neighborhoods of Santo Domingo and other cities. The new subsidy for propane will go into effect if the current …

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The accumulated debt of the electrical distributors with the generators has reached US$85 million (RD$2.4 billion). According to reports, however, the CDEEE will announce a payment plan for these amounts this Tuesday. Rafael Calderon, the Minister of Finance who presided over the extended meetings between government officials and representatives of the generating facilities, said that …

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The Monetary Board established new controls on last-minute efforts to rescue banks in trouble. According to the Listin Diario, the board will authorize loans to banks that have lost 10% of their deposits. The text of the new rules is published in its entirety in today’s edition.

Agribusiness negotiators consider Cancun’s meeting to have been a “successful failure”, according to both the Listin Diario and Hoy newspapers. Negotiator Osmar Benitez said that the position of the poorer nations was to form a negotiating bloc of 34 nations that could face up to the Big Three (the United States, the European Union and …

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Economist Eduardo Tejera recommended that the financial savings certificates recently issued by the Central Bank be switched to 10-year state bonds and thereby prompt an immediate reduction in interest rates. As reported by Aleida Placencia for Hoy newspaper, Tejera suggested an immediate 9% reduction in interest rates, bringing them from 27% to 18%. One of …

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The risk assessment team at JP Morgan issued a statement saying that the Hipolito Mejia’s government has placed his re-election bid ahead of economic stability as the main priority of the government. “While a new Letter of Intent [with the IMF] could be negotiated with more realistic targets, we are not optimistic that the Mejia …

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The United States press officer in Santo Domingo confirmed that Washington has revoked the B1/B2 entry visa of government legal advisor Guido Gomez Mazara, says Hoy newspaper. This non-immigrant visa is issued to individuals wishing to enter the US temporarily for business, pleasure or medical treatment. Gomez Mazara’s passport does, however, still contain a visa …

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More gerrymandering was proposed by Congress, as they attempt to convert Santo Domingo into three provinces, each with its own municipalities and bureaucracy requirements to administer the areas. According to El Caribe, the idea to create Santo Domingo West, North and East comes from a PPH deputy named Radhmes Gonzalez, who wishes to create the …

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The Senate has decided to eliminate 100 advisors and reduce working commissions from 30 to 19. According to the Listin Diario, the Senate met at Casa de Campo in La Romana with experts from the Inter American Development Bank (IDB), who proposed the new internal measures. Among the new steps will be an internal tribunal …

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Ambassador Adam Blackwell is a happy man and proud of the progress in Canadian investments in the Dominican Republic. During an interview with Pablo Ferrer of El Caribe, Blackwell had his notes at the ready, so as not to leave anything out. He indicated that Canadian investments in tourism, mining, banking and telecommunications were growing, …

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