2004 – Page 58

September’s tax collections were 7% less than those of August, says a report in El Caribe today. The newspaper indicates that the decline does not appear to be related to the regular cycles of the economy, given that in September 2003 the tax department reported an 11.7% increase (up RD$416 million) in tax revenues for …

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An IMF delegation arrived in the DR last night to continue talks on the letter of intent the Dominican government is to submit in order to resume the stand by agreement with the IMF. Stevens Phillips heads the 10-person mission that will be working with the Dominican economic team. As reported in the Listin Diario, …

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Franco Uccelli of Bear Stearns reports on the IMF mission that arrived in Santo Domingo last night to negotiate the terms of a “new” agreement with the Dominican government. Uccelli says that, according to reports, the purpose of the visit is to reach a consensus on the contents of the Dominican Republic’s new letter of …

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The AES power plants supply 50% of the electric demand, while Art. 11 of Electricity Law 125-01 caps a limit on national demand that companies participating as distributors could generate and sell in the market at 15%, as reported in Diario Libre today. The AES Corporation operates 876 megawatts of production in the DR, which …

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The Superintendence of Power reported yesterday that power service is stable in the DR thanks to the re-entry of the Cogentrix plant and its 285 megawatts of production. The plant went online when AES announced they would be taking their 240-megawatt AES Andres plant offline due to lack of funds for the purchase of fuel. …

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Ecologists requested that Tourism Minister Felix (Felucho) Jimenez explain the projects that he would like the government to develop in the Bahia de las Aguilas area. Mario Bonetti of the Academy of Sciences, ecologist Ivonne Arias, and Luis Carvajal of the environmental commission of the the state university (UASD) said that the handling of the …

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US Trade Representative Robert Zoellick would reportedly recommend to the US Congress that the DR be excluded from the free trade agreement if it does not eliminate the surcharge on corn syrup imports that was included in the recently implemented tax reform package, as per a story reported in several local newspapers. The DR-CAFTA agreement …

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The 2004-2005 Global Competitiveness Report of the World Economic Forum shows the DR has suffered a setback in its competitiveness ranking. The DR is ranked 72nd among the 104 nations listed in the Growth Competitiveness Index, down from 62nd place in 2003. In Latin America, only Argentina (74), Guatemala (80), Venezuela (85), Ecuador (90), Nicaragua …

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Listin Diario reports that Plaza Lama has reached an agreement with Customs on unpaid pending taxes. Customs Director Miguel Cocco accused the company of having evading RD$250 million in taxes on imported merchandise. On Friday, Cocco told the press that if the company did not pay RD$252 million by Monday, their operations would be closed …

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Despite the economic crisis, the Central Electoral Board (JCE), the body that oversees political elections in the DR and the civil registry, has requested a RD$2.46-billion allotment in the 2005 budget. Listin Diario reports that this is RD$575 million more than what was spent to organize the Presidential election in May 2004. Of the total …

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