The president of the Dominican Federation of Merchants (FDC) has said that the proposal that sets out to broaden the VAT tax base would be “too inflationary”. These proposals are being made in an attempt to lower the current 16% VAT to 14% and broaden the base. Ivan de Jesus Garcia also said that his organization opposes extending the VAT to the basic foodstuffs that make up the family basket, and to medicines and educational materials. Garcia was referring to the proposal made at the Semper Foundation yesterday as a possible answer to the impact that the DR-CAFTA will have upon the Dominican economy. Garcia said that his people were in favor of broadening the VAT tax base, but he insisted that the basic foodstuffs be excluded. He pointed out that the Dominican Republic’s GDP was about RD$800 billion, and 14% of that sum was more than RD$100 billion, a sum that he described as “too high.”