The recent two-week long visit by specialists of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) was something truly worrisome for many sectors of the economy, given the history of required changes to fiscal and monetary policies that are the follow-up to this kind of visit in the past. Perhaps the most famous case was the 1984 visit that resulted in riots, hundreds of fatalities and injured people as the IMF decreed an expansion of the tax base and increased prices for many of the everyday items in a family’s budget.
However, it appears that this latest visit, while possibly foretelling more taxes and higher electricity costs, was more of an approval of current monetary and fiscal policies, at least, according to economist Luis Manuel Piantini.
Piantini noted that a broadening of the tax base and the treatment of tax exemptions can be expected and he understands this will be beneficial to make Dominican products more competitive in the marketplace.
The IMF also talked about government spending and the electricity sector as areas that needed some reforms. Of course, “reforms” in IMF terms means high electricity bills and fewer government social programs in most cases.
The dean of the Economics and Social Studies Faculty at the Autonomous University of Santo Domingo (UASD) said that the IMF evaluation carries recommendations were in the right direction and coincided with many recommendations already made by local economists.
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Listin Diario
DR1 News
29 July 2024