2004 – Page 5

Hoy newspaper pointed out in a report on Wednesday, 22 December that approximately 100 military were readmitted to the forces during the Mejia administration, despite their having been previously removed for justifiable reasons, such as theft and drug smuggling. The Armed Forces minister, the now-retired Lieutenant General Jose Miguel Soto Jimenez, was aware of the …

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With their loss to the Aguilas over the weekend, the Escogido is unlikely to make it to the round robin tournament that defines who will play in the playoffs. The round robin starts the winter series all over again and is played in January. So far, it looks like the playoffs will center around the …

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DR1 Daily News will not be updated again until next Monday, 27 December. The DR1 Daily News staff is taking its Christmas holiday as of tomorrow, 23 December. Top headlines occurring over the 23-26 December period will be compiled for the Monday, 27 December news digest. Important breaking news may appear on the DR1 Forums, …

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After several days of intense lobbying and suspended sessions, the Senate and the government agreed to suspend the 25% tax on soft drinks using High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS) imported from the United States from the proposed free trade agreement. The two groups of negotiators also agreed that in January the Senate could take under …

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For every gallon of gasoline that is bought by the general public at RD$79.30, the government takes RD$31.36 (or 39.56%). Premium gasoline has a 42.75% tax and diesel just a 16.83% tax, although the price of a gallon of diesel is not the same as a gallon of regular gasoline, according to El Caribe. Nonetheless, …

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Rafael Molina Morillo of Hoy newspaper comments on the report published by German Marte in the newspaper yesterday whereby the government will provide funding for 3,366 non-governmental organizations, “for supposed works of social interest that no one supervises.” He points out that with the exception of Rehabilitacion, Corazones Unidos, and a few others, most of …

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The Association of Commercial Banks of the Dominican Republic (ABA) issued a statement yesterday that called the Rules for Evaluating Assets issued by the Central Bank “rigid and counterproductive, and therefore impractical.” The ABA said that they hoped the monetary authorities would review and clean up the rules. Bank representatives are estimating the effects of …

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Geoff Gottlieb, associate economist for Goldman, Sachs & Co, disagrees with comments made by Finance Minister Vicente Bengoa who this week declared that the DR has cleared its arrears with external creditors after paying off US$362 million in the last four months. Sachs does not believe this is true and writes that the situation is …

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Geoff Gottlieb of Goldman Sachs & Co. issued a 22 December release focusing on the key issues regarding the debt restructuring in the DR. He believes the government and the IMF have still to reach agreement on this issue in January. His summary of what is pending is: 1) By end 2004, the authorities plan …

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The Supreme Court of the Dominican Republic has removed another judge for poor performance. This time the figure involved Judge Francisco Antonio Inoa Bisono of Santiago de los Caballeros who was found guilty of serious faults in the exercise of his functions. According to Diario Libre, the nation’s highest court accepted the opinion rendered by …

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