As of March 2020, the Central Bank reports a 21% decline in remittances. Remittances are primarily donations sent by expatriate Dominicans abroad to their relatives. The Central Bank reported that in March US$520.1 million dollars were received. This compares to US$665.5 million for the same month in 2019. The first case of coronavirus was detected in the Dominican Republic on 1 March 2020. On 20 March, the government declared the country in state of emergency. Thousands of Dominicans are expected to have lost their jobs abroad.
The Central Bank reported that inflation in March was a record low of – 0.52 %. This is the result of Consumer Price Index negative variations in Transport (-2.44%), Housing (-0.12%) and Food & Non-Alcoholic Beverages (-0.04%).
The Central Bank also announced the policy interest rate will remain at 3.5%. The policy interest rate is an interest rate that the monetary authorities set to influence consumer prices, the exchange rate, credit expansion, and other monetary variables in the economy.
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1 May 2020