2004 – Page 296

The Dominican Association of Rum Producers criticized the bill approved yesterday in the Senate that ups the taxes on alcoholic beverages based on their alcoholic grade. Consumer taxes on rum are increased from 35% to 90%, while those on beer are diminished, as per the new legislation. In a paid advertisement published today, the rum …

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The Diario Libre reports today that Central Bank Governor Jose E. Lois Malkun says the CB will not intervene in the foreign exchange market under any circumstance. He said he met with the exchange houses, bankers and remittance companies, who were not interested in agreements to fix the rate, but rather in allowing the market …

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The Senate approved a loan for US$89 million with the Inter American Development Bank (IDB) for the Programa Multifase para la Equidad de la Educacion Basica, a government program to aid grade school education. This is the exception to the usual procedure of foreign borrowing with commercial banks. On the same day, the Senate passed …

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The Senate gave the green light to a second reading of the bill that creates the Programa Excepcional de Prevencion del Riesgo para las Entidades de Intermediacion Financiera, a financial risk legislation, said to be one of the prerequisites for resuming the stand-by arrangement with the IMF. The bill calls for the creation of a …

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Henry Sarraf, the PRD deputy for the province of Independencia who achieved notoriety for his proposal to introduce the Ley de Lemas in the Dominican Republic, sent a letter to Diario Libre correcting the newspaper’s statements on his absences from the Chamber of Deputies. Sarraf clarifies that he has only been absent from 37 of …

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The president and secretary general of the PRD are protesting the decision made by Chamber of Disputes of the Central Electoral Board (JCE) on 22 December that outlawed the convention convened by Hatuey de Camps. De Camps and Rafael Subervi Bonilla say they could take the members of the JCE to court for forging public …

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PRD vice-president and former Santo Domingo senator Jose Antonio Najri asked the Dominican people to pardon the PRD leaders for the disservice done to democracy. He said that through the Ley de Lemas proposal, the leadership of the organization shows its incapacity to achieve internal unity and solve its own problems, as reported in El …

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The Central Electoral Board extended the deadline for Dominican expatriates to register to vote from abroad to 26 January. So far 28,000 individuals have registered to vote, and the JCE hopes another 4,000 will take advantage of the extension. The president of the JCE, Luis Arias, made the announcement, as reported in the Listin Diario.

The Listin Diario reports that a cold front has brought early morning temperatures of 8 degrees Celsius in the mountain area of Constanza. In the city, the average temperature has oscillated between 14 and 16 degrees Celsius. Since homes in this area do not have heating, residents are layering the blankets on their beds. Professor …

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The Senate last night approved the RD$121.45 billion national budget for the year 2004. The legislation goes next to the Chamber of Deputies for further review. The final approval is expected to be given by 12 January, when the present session of Congress comes to an end. Other items on the agenda last night included …

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