Central Bank Governor Hector Valdez Albizu says that the DR will make savings of around US$600 million due to the expected continued downward trend of petrol prices on world markets. Valdez Albizu gave a talk “The Dominican Republic and its Prospects in the Latin American and International Context” yesterday, Thursday 30 October 2014, during the II Congress of Banking and Economy in Latin America (CLEC 2014) organized by the Association of Commercial Banks of the DR and the Latin American Federation of Banks (Felaban) that continues today, Friday 31 October 2014 at the Central Bank auditorium in Santo Domingo.
He said that crude prices have dropped from US$99.36 to US$84.56. This means that the Dominican Republic’s current account deficit in the balance of payments could decline from 3.1% of GDP to 2.9% in 2015. Valdez Albizu said he expected petrol prices to close at low levels at the end of this year.
On the downside for the government, the decline in the price of petrol will mean reduced revenue for a government that is heavily dependent on petrol taxes.
Furthermore, during the talk, Valdez Albizu highlighted that in eight years (from 2005 to 2013), the Dominican peso had only depreciated 3.9%, which has meant years of monetary stability and certainty that has attracted domestic and international investors.
He forecast that exports in 2014 would be over US$10 billion, tourism revenues would be more than US$5.6 billion, remittances would be over US$4.6 billion and direct foreign investment would be around US$2.2 billion, which means that the DR would receive hard currency for more than US$22.4 billion in these areas in 2014.
http://www.listindiario.com/la-republica/2014/10/30/343444/Medina-asiste-a-almuerzo-con-industriales-destacan-aportes