2004 – Page 297

The Diario Libre reports that 2,000 rural houses in 14 provinces of the country will benefit from a RD$46-million contract between the Ministry of Industry & Commerce and Tecsol, S. A., a French company that provides solar power equipment. The installation of the solar panels will be accompanied by a 20-year guarantee. The program is …

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Despite promises of austerity in government expenditures, the public payroll increased by an average of 3.5% in 2003, as reported in Diario Libre. This pace of growth in government hiring is less than that reported for 2002, which stood at 5.1%. The Central Bank statistics show that the government employed a total of 378,498 employees …

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Central Bank Governor Jos? Lois Malkum and Superintendent of Banks Julio Cross have joined forces in requesting that the Supreme Court deny the petition made by lawyers for Ram?n B?ez Figueroa that would remove the judge investigating the Baninter case. Malkum and Cross accused B?ez Figueroa?s legal team of delaying the procedures aimed at unraveling …

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National Business Council (CONEP) has called the proposed Ley de Lemas (Bill of Slogans) that would permit several candidates of the same political party to run for election simultaneously ?inconvenient, inopportune and unconstitutional?. Rather than instate this highly controversial electoral mechanism, CONEP suggests that the political parties solve their differences internally. According their press release, …

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Listin Diario reported on 6 January that foreign exchange transactions were one of the most profitable businesses for banking last year. Using Superintendence of Banks figures, the newspaper reports that during the first nine months of the year alone banks earned RD$7.1 billion on FX transactions. Commissions for exchange operations reported by the 10 commercial …

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Economist Rolando Reyes said in an interview with Hoy newspaper that he does not believe the IMF would resume the agreement with the DR as long as the foreign exchange black market is thriving. In the interview published yesterday, Reyes commented that if the market were liberalized again, the exchange rate on the formal market …

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Economist Rolando Reyes forecast that the peso will continue to depreciate in 2004, despite the increases in remittances, tourism receipts and Dominican exports. Reyes based his prediction on the present excess in money supply. He said in an interview with Hoy newspaper yesterday that it is urgent the government remove RD$10 billion to RD$15 billion …

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Economist Rolando Reyes told Hoy newspaper yesterday that the Central Bank has lost its credibility, evidenced by the last two certificate of deposit auctions held by the bank. Of the total RD$7 billion worth of certificates, the Bank was only able to place RD$2.5 billion, leading Reyes to conclude that the certificates have lost their …

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Economist Rolando Reyes questioned whether the government has set aside sufficient money in this year?s budget to pay the foreign debt. He said that there is ambiguity in the revenue estimates contained in the budget because the initial plan was to increase revenues by extending the application of the ITBIS tax to more products. At …

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The political committee of the Dominican Liberation Party (PLD) publishes today a full-page advertisement comparing foreign debt taken on by Dominican governments since 1962. Presidents & debt upon leaving office: Rafael Bonnelly (Uni?n C?vica – January-December 1962): US$13 million; Juan Bosch (PRD – December 1962-September 1963): US$4 million; Donald Reid (Triumvirato – 1963-April 1965: US$154 …

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