2013News

IDB: Electricity sector reform crucial for reducing poverty

The high cost of energy is a major obstacle to competitiveness in the Dominican Republic. The Inter-American Development Bank representative in the DR Flora Montealegre says that efforts to reduce poverty in the country will be insufficient without a significant reform of the electricity sector. She was speaking during a panel discussion on challenges to competitiveness following comments by Minister of Industry and Commerce Jose del Castillo at the Forum for Growth in the Caribbean that took place at the Presidential Palace on Tuesday, 3 December. Montealegre described the impact of the cost of electricity on competitiveness as “enormous”. She said it is one of the serious limitations to productivity. “The cost of energy is among the highest in the continent and is triple the average cost in the United States where it is 12 US cents per kilowatt/hour,” she said. She also pointed out the country is highly dependent on PetroCaribe, an agreement which in her opinion does not necessarily guarantee stability in the long term.

She expressed support for work being carried out by the Dominican chapter of the Caribbean Growth Forum on identifying solutions to diversify the energy generation matrix and reduce costs. The government is backing the installation of 600 megawatts of coal-fired generation in the short term.

Also speaking at the event, economist Maritza Ruiz warned that despite advances in the industrial free zones, the country’s manufacturing capacity is declining because of the obstacles of the high cost of energy and transport that need to be addressed.

The Forum was sponsored by the World Bank, the IDB, Compete Caribbean, the Caribbean Development Bank and the European Union.

http://elnuevodiario.com.do/app/article.aspx?id=354997

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