The newspapers this morning focus on the worsening crisis in the fuel sector. Hoy newspaper’s lead stories talk of fuel rationing and continued price rises. Commerce & Industry Minister Sonia Guzman accepts that the fuel price increases are likely to continue because of the falling value of the peso, which yesterday continued its downward spiral to RD$55 to US$1. “How can I have good news for you?” Guzman asked reporters yesterday. The only hope, according to the minister, is that the exchange rate will stabilize once the new monetary policies take effect and the IMF agreement is back on course. Gasoline retail association Anadegas is claiming that the Dominican Refidomsa refineries have cut supplies by 50% and are responsible for the current shortages in the market. Anadegas president Juan Ignacio Espaillat Taveras accused them of speculation: “The refinery is adopting this irresponsible position and we wish to denounce it and disassociate our gasoline retailers from responsibility for this shortage.” He denied that retailers were hoarding fuel. Diario Libre’s main headline is more alarmist in its tone, saying, “Electricity and fuel on the brink of collapse.” It attributes the current increase in power cuts to the government’s failure to honor its debts to the generators, and the fuel shortages to a lack of dollars at Refidomsa, which has prevented it from purchasing adequate fuel to meet the country’s needs. El Caribe comments on the situation in its editorial column, observing that both facets of this crisis – the electricity cuts and the fuel shortages – have one thing in common: the government’s inability to make good on its commitments. “The authorities have to do all they can to prevent this crisis. Most Dominicans have seen their quality of life deteriorate as a result of inflation, which gives rise to predictions that next week’s protest will be widely supported. It is therefore necessary that no new incentives for protest are added.”