2004 – Page 48

The mandated increases of 30% on minimum wages and 25% on monthly wages of up to RD$20,000 for companies with assets of more than RD$500,000 should be seen on 30 November pay checks, if the increases are not appealed. The National Salaries Commission has yet to rule on any wage increase for the free zone, …

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The net reserves of the Central Bank have improved and at the end of September stood at US$372.9 million ? the highest level since May 2003 when the banking crisis began. At the turn of government, the reserve level was US$352.2 million, considerably up from the US$114.2 million level of January 2004. The gross reserves …

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Beat Siegenthaler of Commerzbank Securities, the investment banking division of one of Europe’s top banks, reports that on Friday, the DR government announced its desire to conclude the negotiations on a new IMF program by mid-November. He indicates that the IMF has underscored this view with a statement saying that discussions would continue on electricity …

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Reporting on the Dominican Republic for Bear Stearns, Franco Uccelli says that while the country’s prospects have improved, the DR still needs to confront numerous significant challenges to achieve a bullish outcome. He emphasizes that it must first reinstate the IMF agreement to restore credibility to its economic and financial program and so that disbursements …

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Headlines over the weekend focused on talks within the Dominican Liberation Party (PLD) to make room for 50,000 PLD party members on the government payroll from now to December. As reported in the Listin Diario, President Leonel Fernandez met with Lidio Cadet and Cristina Lizardo of the PLD’s jobs commission to discuss the need to …

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Cell phone use in the DR has boomed. In 1996, only 1 in every 100 people owned a cell phone. Only eight years later, however, this statistic has increased to 27 out of every 100. This means that cell phone sales represented 82,500 in 1996, a number which catapulted to 2.3 million as of March …

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Listin Diario highlights that Scotiabank will close this year’s operations with profits of RD$1.8 billion, which is equivalent to 50% of the profits to be generated by all other local banks collectively. Scotiabank benefited from the concession granted (without a tender) of Baninter’s better client portfolio plus 35 of its most profitable branches. Listin Diario, …

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Santo Domingo’s Cardinal Nicolas de Jesus Lopez Rodriguez would like to shut down the bars and restaurants that have turned the capital’s Colonial City into a nocturnal hotspot for fun-seekers. The cardinal is particularly displeased with Mankala and Abacus, two bars that lie directly in front of the La Altagracia church. The cardinal says these …

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President Leonel Fernandez will travel next week to Brazil and Mexico. In Brazil, he will participate in the XVIII Summit of the Group of Rio (3-5 November). Subsequently, he will travel to Venezuela to sign the agreements drawn up to oversee the DR’s purchase of Venezuelan petroleum. President Fernandez will sign the agreement with Venezuelan …

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The Fundacion Derecho y Democracia, as represented by a former JCE (Central Electoral Board) judge Julio Cesar Castanos Guzman has submitted to the Supreme Court of Justice a request that the Law on Political Primaries be annulled on the grounds that it violates the Constitution. The JCE has already requested funding for RD$747 million (RD$487 …

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