After a downward trend lasting several days, the US dollar has sprung back to as high as RD$55 on the informal exchange markets and to $50 at local banks. This most recent decline of the peso coincides with news that the International Monetary Fund agreement had resumed. Diario Libre specifically links the leap to yesterday’s announcement that the government would allocate RD$650 million to poverty alleviation projects, to be managed by Gabinete Social and distributed to “priority projects,” including the state water companies (INAPA) and the Education Ministry. According to the government, the funds will go towards the construction and repair of schools, the completion of water supply installations in eastern Santo Domingo and sanitation systems across the country. Diario Libre’s main editorial calls the plan a “suspicious expense” and says it is no coincidence that the peso’s exchange rate has declined. “There is more poverty, there is no doubt. But in this country, this type of paternalistic aid has always had a political end.” The editorial recommends that a neutral body, perhaps headed by the Church, conduct a swift and transparent “anti-poverty crusade,” with the conclusion being that “there will be fewer doubts, although the (President’s) re-election won’t benefit much.” Ana Mitila Lora in the Listin Diario widens the net and lists the possible factors that could have provoked this abrupt reversal in the peso’s fortune. “What caused the latest blow to the economy? Speculation? Conspiracy? Lack of credibility? The uprising in Haiti? Any one could be the answer, depending on whether it comes from the opposition or the re-electionists. The truth is that no one is in possession of the absolute truth.” What we do know, continues Mitila Lora, is who suffers. It is the people who have to confront unaffordable prices for their basic products, such as plantain, rice and chicken. With just 88 days to go before the election, she ventures a proposal aimed at increasing confidence in the electoral process: “President Hipolito Mejia should take a leave of absence until the JCE proclaims the winner. The late Joaquin Balaguer did a similar thing under different circumstances in 1970. We believe that VP Milagros Ortiz Bosch would have no objection to providing the country with this service.”