Carlos Felipe Jaramillo, World Bank vice president for Latin America and the Caribe, gave an interview to Diario Libre where he highlights the economic recovery in the Dominican Republic. “The Dominican Republic is an exception; it is one of the two or three countries that have managed to maintain positive and very persistent economic growth for more than two decades. The Dominican Republic is on track for a full rebound in economic activity and employment this year, according to our estimates,” he told Diario Libre.
In the interview, Jaramillo is optimistic the Dominican Republic has the capacity to honor its rising debt commitments. “I believe that the situation in the Dominican Republic is one of the best in the region. They are not increasing so much, they have a good payment capacity. There are no investors worried about the investments made in the Dominican Republic,” he said.
He remarked that the challenge ahead for the country is for better distribution of wealth. He said the tourism and free zone sectors are experiencing dynamic growth. “But, how to create the conditions so that these sectors create more indirect jobs,” he observed.
When asked about the US$20 billion that have been invested in recent years in the public education sector, the World Bank executive responded: “Sometimes people think that it [education problem] is solved by throwing more money at it and that is not the solution. The solution is to have reforms and know how to use that money to get the best results,” he said. Jaramillo says the DR has much to learn from Asian countries and how they have tackled improving quality in education.
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1 November 2021