The Technical Secretary to the Presidency, Carlos Despradel, announced last
Friday that the Dominican Republic would receive US$50 million from the World
Bank today, Monday. The funds are purportedly to be used to purchase fuel for
electricity generation. Government authorities are also predicting the new
dollar infusion to help stabilize the exchange market. These funds are the first
disbursement of a US$100-million credit approved by the World Bank as part of
the program to lessen the impact of the economic adjustments required by the IMF
accords. According to Hoy, most of the funds will be used to purchase fuel for
the generating plants, with any remainder to go to government social plans
designed to assist the poor. As soon as the US$50 million is appropriately
allocated, there will be another disbursement of US$25 million and the process
to be repeated upon the expenditure of the US$25 million, thus constituting the
US$100-million agreement signed by Dominican Ambassador Hugo Guiliani Cury.
Officials said this new disbursement would stabilize the supply of fuel for the
power generators for the next few months. According to Minister Carlos
Despradel, the three-part loan agreement will extend US$80 million towards the
purchase of fuel, US$12.5 million to strengthen the regulatory and supervisory
capacity of key agencies within the Dominican financial system and US$7.3
million for use in the government programs for consumer protection.