Elena Viyella de Paliza, president of the National Council of Business, has favored an adjustment of minimum wage levels. At the same time, she says before wages in general are increased inflation needs to be restrained. She also lamented that in the proposals being made by the PLD economic team there is no mention of what measures the incoming government plans to take to strengthen the state, nor of measures to apply fiscal discipline and reduce the size of government. There is only talk of increasing governmental revenues with increased taxes.
While she feels it is important that fiscal reform provide the government with adequate resources, she says the priorities should be education and health. She emphasizes that more than just an increase in taxes, what is needed is an integral fiscal reform where good use of these funds is made.
As reported in the Listin Diario, Viyella says specific measures need to be put into place to transform public administration and a consensus reached for macroeconomic stability.
On this same issue, the president of the Confederation of Dominican Employers (Copardom), Virgilio Ortega Nadal yesterday criticized the bill sent to Congress that calls for an over-the-board 60% increase in wages. Ortega Nadal said this would be in violation of the law and several international agreements. Present legislation establishes that the National Committee of Wages can only rule on minimum wages.
Ortega says: ?We understand that wages cannot be addressed in an isolated manner; they are part of the macroeconomic equation. If a fiscal reform is carried out and the effects of a wage increase is not contemplated, then it will have a distorting effect on all that was planned.?