In his outlook on the Dominican Republic, President Luis Abinader says the country is “an oasis” when compared to the difficulties other Latin American and Caribbean countries are dealing with.
In a press conference at the Presidential Palace on 17 January 2023, Abinader said that the Dominican Republic “is better off than other countries.” He defended what he described as his government’s correct implementation of economic policy.
He assured that his administration allocated billions of pesos in 2022 to subsidies for food, fuel and electricity rates to deal with the high international inflation caused by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the damage caused in the Dominican Republic by Hurricane Fiona in September 2023.
“We are better off than other countries. That is the reality; we are growing more because we have implemented the right economic policies. We have achieved record figures in foreign investment (…) This makes us an ‘oasis’ in terms of positive things with all of Latin America, that is very convulsed, with many problems,” he indicated.
He pointed out that the World Bank has forecast that the Dominican Republic will maintain a “solid” growth of around 4.9% this year and in 2024 due, in his opinion, to the “strong dynamism” in public investment and the boom in small and large businesses in the country.
He also stated that, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), his country is only one of two in Latin America that has improved in regards to food security.
“We are producing more chickens, more eggs; our agriculture has increased. We are also supplying Haiti, where its productive structure has collapsed,” said the head of state.
Abinader emphasized that public and private investments in the Dominican Republic in 2022 were around 2.5% of the gross domestic product (GDP), a higher percentage than in the last six years.
Read more in Spanish:
Presidency
N Digital
18 January 2023