In a move that caught customs agents off guard, the Director General of Customs ordered a 60-point rise in the ad valorum rate charged by Customs on imported goods. Instead of paying the rate of RD$20.90 per dollar, the change imposes a rate of RD$21.50. Previous increases had only been as much as five points. The new ad valorum will cause a rise in prices paid on all imported goods as well as products made in the Dominican Republic from imported raw materials. It will also increase the government?s income from taxes. Since April of last year, the government?s customs agency has been using a different rate of exchange than the Central Bank, effectuating a 21.1-percent increase. Many economists have been struck by the fact that the Customs Department uses one exchange rate and the Central Bank another. While one rate approximates the official market rate, the second lower rate is used by the government to pay its debts. Both rates are set by the Central Bank.
