An IMF delegation arrived in the DR last night to continue talks on the letter of intent the Dominican government is to submit in order to resume the stand by agreement with the IMF. Stevens Phillips heads the 10-person mission that will be working with the Dominican economic team. As reported in the Listin Diario, the economists will seek to find new resources, in the understanding that the tax reform will not produce sufficient resources to cover the government’s needs and debt obligations.
The Listin Diario reports that of the amounts determined in the original two-year standby arrangement signed in August 2003, the Dominican Republic would have received US$618 million. Of this amount, however, only US$200 million was disbursed to the Mejia administration due to violations on two occasions of the fiscal and monetary terms of the accord. Listin Diario reports that the resumption of the pact could mean that the DR will have access to US$1.2 billion from the IMF, the World Bank and the InterAmerican Development Bank.