At the end of March 2025, the Central Bank of the Dominican Republic, through the Monetary Board, took new initiatives to safeguard the Dominican economy. According to Valdez Albizu, the board took the decisions to clear uncertainties for the financial intermediaries (banks) and exchange houses. The Central Bank governor has repeatedly said that economic stability in the Dominican Republic is not negotiable.
There has been an increase in private credit in foreign currencies of late, both to individuals as well as companies, and their bank accounts are in Dominican pesos. The Monetary Board also looked at the regulations regarding this type of operation, including the recommendations by the Basel Bank Supervision Committee and the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
The first issue that was examined concerned those regulations regarding the entities that used hard currencies and either did not earn hard currencies or did earn hard currencies. As a result of this examination, it was resolved that entities that generated hard currencies, such as free zones, tourism, and exporters in general, would have free access to hard currency credit without limits.
At the same time, those entities that did not produce hard currencies would have access to financing of up to 25% of their total deposits in the bank. The aim is for the non-producer of hard currencies to prove having the capacity to cover the cost of these currencies in the exchange market.
This decision is aimed at assisting certain entities such as refineries or energy companies or importers, that function in Dominican pesos to obtain hard currency financing. At the same time, the measure limits credit to those entities that do not produce hard currencies and deal in housing sales or personal consumption (such as cars and trucks).
These entities will now have to secure their own hard currencies via bank loans, and so the Monetary Board will have to deal with less pressure on the exchange rate, which had grown to above 63:1 recently.
Other decisions governed deposits and requirements for entities handling remittances from overseas.
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El Caribe
7 April 2025