President Luis Abinader met with representatives of the media at the Presidential Palace on Wednesday, 26 August. The meeting is part of the President’s promise for better two-way communication.
During the meeting, the President summarized the government’s action plan in the short and medium term. He said the government finances are further affected by a significant paying spree of the past administration, including around RD$25 billion in unexpected cash dispursements to contractors and suppliers. He forecast negative GDP growth for 2020, but a vigorous 6% growth for 2021.
Highlights of the meeting and what the President told the press:
• The focus of the government now is the health crisis, reactivate economy.
• Construction projects will start to improve living conditions and create jobs. Construction works will start with the repairing of around 30,000 houses, aqueducts, and public-private alliances for major infrastructure works.
• Auditing of public entities by Comptroller Office. When necessary, auditing firms will be contracted.
• First wave of government reform: Shutdown or merger of government entities that are duplicated or have no real role.
• Second and third wave: More efficiency-seeking actions in time for these to be included in the 2021 National Budget.
• Fiscal reform is already underway. But it has started with reducing wasteful government spending, not the usual increasing of taxes. “It is not about spending less. We may even spend more. It is about spending well, improving the quality of public spending,” says Abinader. The first savings are being injected into the health sector to fund health insurance for all citizens.
• Development of Pedernales in the southwest. For every job created in a hotel, five indirect jobs will be created. The Public-Private Alliance Law will be used.
The attending press were:
Emmanuel Castillo, La Información; Juan Bolívar Díaz, Hoy; Bolívar Díaz Gómez, El Nacional; Miguel Franjul, Listin Diario; Persio Maldonado, El Nuevo Diario; José Monegro, El Dia; Saul Pimentel, Almomento.net; Fausto Rosario Adames, Acento.com.do; Osvaldo Santana, El Caribe; Adriano Miguel Tejada, Diario Libre.
Lunch was served at the Presidential Palace. The menu was filled with Dominican food dishes: Mixed lettuce salad with tangerines, tomatoes and nuts. Guinea fowl in wine, beef filet in mushroom sauce, black bean moro rice dish, caramelized ripe plantains, cassava root (yucca) soufflé with cheese. For dessert: sweet coconut or guava cheesecake.
Also attending were: Vice President Raquel Peña, Presidency Minister Lisandro Macarrulla, Administrative Minister of the Presidency José Ignacio Paliza, the voice for Abinader and director of the Presidency Communication Department Milagros Germán and the press director of the Presidency, Daniel García Archibald.
Read more:
DR1 Travel News
Acento
El Caribe
El Dia
El Nuevo Diario
Listin Diario
27 August 2020