Diario Libre reports today that the Fernandez government has plans to take advantage of loans offered by the Brazilian government’s Banco Nacional de Desarrollo Economico y Social to support Brazilian export companies. Brazilian ambassador Ronaldo Edgar Dunlop said that the bank has available resources to support the Brazilian-French consortium that will be participating in the tender to build the Santo Domingo metro’s first 10 kilometer line, an expressed priority of the Fernandez administration. The first budget for the metro announced by Metro Minister Diandino Pena is approximately US$370 million.
According to press reports today, the foreign, internal and Central Bank debt load is now approaching the figure of US$13 billion dollars, with the expected approval of the RD$8.9 billion bond issues.
While the approval has stagnated in Congress, President Leonel Fernandez entrusted Secretary of the Presidency Danilo Medina to lobby before the Senate and prior to leaving for a 10-day trip to the United States resent the RD$8.9 billion bonds issuing bill to Congress.
This debt is highly worrisome for a country that has maintained generally low levels of debt. The debt represents nearly 50% of the GDP, the highest level of any of the countries in the region, where none have a debt level of even 40% of GDP. The foreign debt alone has reached US$7.2 billion according to government sources.
In addition, President Leonel Fernandez said in his 27 of February speech before the Congress that his government had inherited an internal debt of RD$25 billion of which it has paid RD$2.4 billion. At an exchange rate of 29:1, this amount represents US$779.3 million.
Aside from this money, the government has taken credits of US$150 million from local commercial banks in order to face up to part of the electricity crisis that was destroying public confidence in the government. The Central Bank, with the approval of the Monetary and Financial Law, is reaching RD$130 billion or US$4.48 billion. This debt has more than doubled with the policies initiated to check the inflation and exchange rates.