President Leonel Fernández announced yesterday at the Latin American Travel Press Conference that he has plans to send a bill that would incorporate a fixed tax on petroleum product sales in the DR to Congress next week. This way, the increase of the prices of petroleum products would stop having political and social implications, he said. The price then could fluctuate to reflect world market prices. He reiterated that the exchange rate commission increase is temporary, defending the measure as having been recommended by the Monetary Junta as the best option for meeting foreign debt payments. He recalled that during the Salvador Jorge Blanco presidency (PRD 1982-1986), that administration instated a 36% surcharge on the export exchange rate and a 20% charge on the imports exchange rate. Business sectors have opposed the recent increase of the exchange rate commission from 1.75% to 5%. The commission rate affects the cost of imports for industrial use as well as retail.
