The president of the Dominican Chamber of Construction, Diego de Moya Canaan, has forecast a new boom in construction as of next year. He said that after suffering a 20% decline in the first half of this year, the industry is showing signs of revving up again. De Moya made the comments while announcing the Third International Construction Fair to be held at the Feria Ganadera exhibition grounds from 10-14 October. De Moya said the industry lost 100,000 jobs due to the increase in petroleum prices, fiscal deficit and balance of payments deficit that reduced government construction contracts, the increase in the ITBIS tax from 8 to 12% and the new 1.5% tax on gross sales. De Moya forecasts better times ahead given the declining bank lending rates, the banks’ excess liquidity, and the increasing reserves of the Central Bank. “We are optimistic that in the next few months the reactivation of the industry will be a reality,” he said. He expects that next year the nation will begin a period of true growth and reorganization in the construction sector.
