The Chamber of Deputies approved six loans with multilateral organizations and the French Development Agency during the working session on 4 July 2023. The loans passed with the majority vote of legislators representing the ruling Modern Revolutionary Party (PRM). The loans now pass to the Senate for review. The PRM also has the simple majority in the Senate.
The new loans passed in the Chamber of Deputies are:
A US$100 million loan with the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) for the National Housing Plan. The funds are allocated to an integral system with public and private institutions for housing solutions. The project contemplates subsidizing the down payment for households sold to low income persons. The funds would be available through cooperative, solidarity or mutual fund financial instruments.
The loan was awarded by the IBRD in July 2022. The loan agreement number 9392-DO is to be executed by the Ministry of the Presidency, if the Senate also approves it. The loan will be amortized by the Dominican Republic over 30 years, with a grace period of five years.
The deputies also approved a US$200 million (EUR190 million) to be used as budgetary support in the second phase of the mobility, land transportation and road safety program. The credit agreement was signed with the French Development Agency (AFD).
A third loan approved is for US$44,200,000,000 for the execution of the integral and sustainable management of solid waste in Greater Santo Domingo program. The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) signed the loan on 16 January 2023. This loan provides funds to close open-pit landfills, including the Duquesa landfill that serves Greater Santo Domingo.
In addition to the other three, the Chamber of Deputies also approved a US$38 million loan with the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) to finance the program “Support to the RD-Trabaja Flexible Employment System,” which will be executed by the Ministry of Labor.
A fifth loan approved is for US$140 million also with the IDB for the financing and executing of the “Universal Sanitation Program for Tourist and Coastal Cities” to be used by the National Institute of Potable Water and Sewerage (Inapa).
A sixth loan is contract DO 21/2016 for execution of works, subscribed on 10 March 2022, and its addendum of 11 July 2022, between Corporación del Acueducto y Alcantarillado de Santo Domingo (CAASD) and Consorcio Acciona Infraestructuras S. A., for the design and execution of the eastern aqueduct expansion project, salinity barrier and transfer to Santo Domingo North, corresponding to the international public bidding procedure, REF.CAASD-LPI-01-2016, for US$101,308,568.35.
Read more in Spanish:
Listin Diario
Diario Libre
5 July 2023