Businessman Celso Marranzini Perez doubts the government’s attempts to force down the dollar-peso rate will have any lasting effects. “I don’t believe in pressure tactics, because they have never worked in any economy. I wish the dollar would go down to RD$30 to US$1,” said Marranzini. Carlos Guillermo Leon, president of the newly renamed Banco Leon (formerly Bancredito), said that speculation would exist for as long as there was economic uncertainty. Restoring confidence was the key, according to Leon, who also expressed doubts about the sustainability of such a sharp overnight drop in the exchange rate. “If it were so easy to reduce the dollar rate, it would have been done long ago, along with a reduction of inflation. All this appears to be is a way of creating the right conditions for the signing of the agreement with the International Monetary Fund and to set the scene for the necessary fiscal reform.” Leon said the reduction must continue, preferably at a more gradual pace, so as not to disrupt the currency exchange market. Banking Superintendent Julio Cross says that speculation has artificially overvalued the dollar, and that its real value is between RD$28 and RD$32. He expressed confidence that the downward trend would continue and called on the public not to engage in any activities that jeopardize this trend. Listin Diario’s main editorial attacks what it describes as the “savage capitalism” of a completely unregulated exchange market, arguing that such freedom only benefits a few at the expense of the vast majority. The writer slams “malicious speculators” in the foreign currency market who have no regard for the social well-being of the nation, currently suffering unaffordable price rises of all essential consumer items as a result of the peso devaluation. The government has the right to defend itself, just as the country has against this, says the writer in defence of the government’s recent attempts to control the exchange market and lower the dollar-peso exchange rate.