Former Central Bank governor, Luis Toral said that the Central Bank numbers were twisted to achieve a political objective in the May elections. The former official said that the numbers given out by the Bank are an “insult and a mockery” to the people. Toral said that if the country had experienced a GDP growth such as was reported by Central Bank governor Hector Valdez Albizu, it should have repercussion at every level of the society, and this did not occur.
Toral coincided with economist Miguel Ceara Hatton and others who asked that the methodology used by the Central Bank to arrive as such envious numbers be explained in a transparent manner.
Toral, talking to reporters from the Listin Diario, said that the 9.6% increase in the Gross Domestic Product and an increase of US$1,144 of income per person, along with a reduction in unemployment, was just not reasonable to believe.
The former Central Bank governor said, “The general population perceives something just the opposite from the situation presented by Valdez Albizu”. He said that the situation among merchants and industrialists supports the generalized opinion of the populace, and that the numbers have been “distorted.” He invited Governor Valdez to visit the barrios of Santo Domingo to see if the population has enjoyed such a bonanza.
Economist Ceara Hatton, the economic consultant for the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) in the Dominican Republic and Henry Hebrard, a research economist at the Center for Tax Studies (CENIT) agreed that the higher than normal GDP growth rate could be based on an incorrect methodology. Ceara Hatton based his opinion on the fact that surveys carried out by well known companies show that most Dominicans feel that the country is in a crisis and that the situation has not gotten any better. Hebrard said that he was critical of the fact that the government used the huge growth in the communications sector to bolster the GDP growth rate. Telecommunications grew by 26% in 2005. He added that without the telecommunications added in, the GDP growth would still be between 5% and 6%, “something that, no matter what, we would consider extraordinary.”