President Leonel Fernandez feels confident that political leaders will place the best interest of the nation before political and individual interests for the approval of the tax reform bill in Congress, as reported in Listin Diario. “We are indicating to other countries in Latin America, and other countries in the world, that the Dominican Republic has its conflicts, difficulties, thousands of obstacles, but there is also a level of maturity in the Dominican political class that always places the country’s interests above partisan and private interests”, said the President. He is optimistic that the 2006 Budget will be passed before 31 December.
Meanwhile, Presidential Technical Secretary Temistocles Montas has warned that the government will not accept a “mutilated tax reform that reduces the state’s collection capacity, “because the PRD says so”. He encouraged PRD lawmakers to be more responsible towards the nation and approve the bill as it was submitted by the Executive Branch, because it was their party that put the country into DR-CAFTA without considering the fiscal consequences. Montas said that if the reform bill is not passed by the end of the year, the government would have to structure the 2006 budget on the basis of the 13% exchange commission which would exclude the country from DR-CAFTA.
Diario Libre writes that according to President Fernandez, the DR cannot afford not to find solutions to its problems.