The Medina administration has denied that the Venezuelan government increased the interest rates on the PetroCaribe funds from 1% to 2% as recently reported in the press. The Medina government says it has not yet received an official note on the increase in the cost of the financing.
Meanwhile, the Medina administration announced the appointment of Jose Ramon Suriel as the new governmental coordinator of the program. He replaces Rafael Espinal and will work under the supervision of the Ministry of Hacienda.
Suriel is responsible for managing matters related to the payment of the debt owed to Venezuela under the preferential agreement. Suriel previously served as a member of the board of the Empresa de Transmision Electrica Dominicana (ETED), the government body in charge of electricity transmission.
The Dominican Republic owed US$3.25 billion to Petro Caribe as of May 2013.