The president of the Dominican Association of Housing Promoters and Constructors (ACOPROVI), Jose Rodriguez Caceres, told reporters from the Listin Diario that the lower cost of dollars, cheaper hardware materials, and lesser interest rates have not created lower prices on new housing units because of salary increases, bureaucratic red tape and higher taxes. The association leader urged the government to change its policies that govern the fiscal treatment of the housing sector. The Acoprovi president said that there has never been a government policy that favored the housing construction sector. As an example of what is happening, Rodriguez pointed out that while construction material has gone down in price there has been an 82% increase in wages. The price of cement, as an example, has only gone down 40%. Rodriguez Caceres said that there should be some incentives on the fiscal level for people to be able to acquire their own homes. Rodriguez criticized the red tape that complicates housing starts, and suggested grouping institutions dealing with housing permits in one ministry of housing. According to the available data, there is a 700,000-unit deficit in housing in the Dominican Republic. The Central Bank has blamed the slowdown in housing starts on the high interest rates and the high cost of building materials.