The United Nations Program for Development reported yesterday that poverty in the Dominican Republic has increased 16-20% in the past three years. According to preliminary findings as the UNPD carries out the Human Development Report 2004 for the Dominican Republic, Miguel Ceara-Hatton, as director of the Office of Human Development of the UNPD, said the rise in poverty has come as a consequence of high inflation levels and the depreciation of the Dominican peso. He said the DR is now ranked 94th in the Human Development Index that is based on data from 2000. The Human Development Report 2004 will be published in September of this year.
Economist Ceara-Hatton mentioned that in 2003, the GDP declined 0.4%, the peso since June 2002 to date has depreciated 300% and accumulated inflation is at 60-70%. He said with these conditions, the increase in poverty was inevitable. The economist feels assured that the DR has touched the bottom, however, and said that if the growth of the 90s returns, the crisis will be temporary and the country should recover in 18-20 months? time, by when he feels the number of poor could be reduced to half. He cited the IMF?s forecast decline in the GDP of ?1 and ?2% for this year, which would indicate a continuance of difficult times while on the road to the economy?s recovery. Ceara-Hatton said that the sectors that fuel the economy, such as tourism and export-free zones, should continue to contribute to the reactivation of the economic climate. He said the biggest challenges ahead are the billions in deposit at the Central Bank that make up the so-called quasi-fiscal deficit.