The ?Coctelera? column in Hoy newspaper comments on how commercial banks are behind the proposal to charge RD$0.15 per RD$100 issued in checks, instead of taxing the yields on certificates of deposit. The writer says that these banks own as much as 70% of the funds deposited to the Central Bank, many of which earn yields of up to 60% in interest a year. Coctelera explains that these funds come from depositors who prefer to hold their savings in commercial banks making at interest rates of about 20%, given their skepticism of depositing money in the Central. The commercial banks, however, take these funds to the Central Bank and make a considerable spread.
The Association of Commercial Banks proposed the RD$0.15 tax per RD$100 in checks written to override the suggested 15% tax on savings certificates yields. Jose Manuel Lopez Valdez, the president of the association, feels such a tax on savings would unfairly penalize those trying to save, reduce national investment and encourage capital flight and a further devaluation of the peso. The association estimates that the tax on checks could produce RD$3.2 billion in government revenues.
El Caribe newspaper reports that Valdes asserted that the banks had reached an agreement with the incoming government to exclude the interests on savings from the upcoming fiscal reform in exchange for the tax on checks.