The World Bank has announced a new US$550 million lending program and advisory services for the Dominican Republic over the next four years (2015-2018).
The new strategy was jointly prepared by the Dominican Government and the World Bank Group (WBG), comprised of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA).
“The Dominican Republic has significant potential to create more and better jobs, as well as to improve access to finance, to more reliable electricity and telecommunications, and to improve services in education, health, water and social protection, for the poorest 40% of the population,” said Sophie Sirtaine, World Bank director for the Caribbean. “This new strategy reflects a common effort to boost results on the ground in these areas”, she said.
The World Bank support will be used to improve access to quality public services, including education, health, water and social protection by increasing the number of new teachers recruited under a competitive selection system, doubling the number of children vaccinated, providing access to improved sanitation to approximately 128,000 poor people in Puerto Plata, and strengthening the flagship safety net Progresando con solidaridad. Funds will also be used to increase access to electricity, telecommunications and other infrastructure by reducing losses in the electricity sector, investing in renewable energy and improving access to more efficient and reliable ICT services through a national broadband network interconnecting 15 provinces.
The project will also allocate funds to building resilience to external shocks by installing a new telemetric network for managing water resource flows, building and rehabilitating four dams and developing a national integrated information system.
It also includes funding to improve the business climate by halving the time taken to register new companies, improving access to finance for over 60,000 small and medium-sized entrepreneurs, and providing more public-private partnerships.
There are also chapters for use of the money to promote efficient management of public resources by strengthening fiscal management, budgetary processes and civil society capacity in budget analysis and oversight.
The World Bank announced that as part of the program, it will be supporting the private sector that is complemented by a MIGA guarantee for US$107.6 million for the toll road to Samana for MIGA’s client, Autopistas del Nordeste. The high cost of the toll road for travelers is considered a major obstacle to tourism development in Samana.
Read more: http://www.worldbank.org/en/country/dominicanrepublic