2008 – Page 347

Presidential candidates Miguel Vargas Maldonado, Leonel Fernandez and Amable Aristy Castro greeted each other cordially as they attended a special mass at the Basilica of Our Lady in celebration of the Virgin of Altagracia in Higuey yesterday. Listin Diario writes that there was a slight feeling of tension in the air as worshippers awaited the …

Read more…

Foreign Relations Minister Carlos Morales Troncoso has met with Puerto Rican Economy and Commerce Minister Bartolome Gamundi Cestero. During the meeting both men agreed to implement policies that would strengthen trade relations between PR and the DR. Hoy reports that as part of this renewed effort, Gamundi will travel to the DR to present President …

Read more…

Haitian officials are taking their time to decide whether to lift a ban on Dominican chicken imports. Puerto Rico has already lifted the ban. The delay in making the decision is causing concern for chicken farmers who are losing money on a daily basis. Haiti is the DR’s large purchaser of eggs and chickens. Hoy …

Read more…

Economist Hector Giuliani Cury warns that the government has limited options for the Dominican economy in response to the decreased growth of the US economy. He added that any option would be costly and said that if the government increased its public spending the deficit would go up. He said that another option would be …

Read more…

Manuel Cabrera, president of the Import Wholesalers’ Association (AAI), says that the slight increase in the dollar-peso exchange rate, from RD$32.50 to about RD$34.00 has led to an increase in the price of imported foods and goods. Cabrera told Hoy that the devaluation of the peso always causes uncertainty in the import market. He added, …

Read more…

Between January and December 2007 the Tax Department (DGII) collected RD$141.4 billion, RD$30 billion more than in 2006, for a 27.1% increase. The amount was RD$12.2 billion more than was projected for that period. A report released by DGII explains that the increase was due to a rise in the volume of income taxes, vehicular …

Read more…

Dr. Johanna Mendelson-Forman, Senior Associate at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), said that the DR’s transport sector could cut almost half of the imported petroleum it uses, estimated at 40% of the total, with the development of a renewable energy sector. However, she dismissed the possibility of sugar cane production for the …

Read more…

The Alternative Social Forum, quoted in Hoy, says that it is irrational for a country like the DR to “squander” RD$3 billion on political campaigns. Spokesman Fidel Santana says that this situation reflects politicians’ lack of commitment to the nation. He added that while politicians have the luxury of spending all this money on campaigning, …

Read more…

The Central Electoral Board (JCE) has announced that the expiration date on the ‘cedula’ or identity card has been extended to 31 December of this year. This will allow many Dominicans whose cedulas would have expired before the presidential elections on 16th May to vote on that date. The JCE also announced that young people …

Read more…

Today, the National District Attorney General’s office will hand over RD$4,130,972 and US$500,000 raised from the sale of assets belonging to former military captain Quirino Ernesto Paulino to the National Committee Against Money Laundering. Assets sold included rice plantations and a helicopter. Attorney General Jose Manuel Peguero Hernandez will give the money to Mabel Feliz …

Read more…