2001 – Page 118

The Presidency sent the bill for the issue of US$500 million in sovereign bonds to the Senate yesterday. The bonds will be issued to strengthen the reserves of the Central Bank and primarily fund the construction of highways and bridges. The bill also establishes penalties of two to five years in jail for government officers …

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The Department for the Protection of Children, Teenagers and the Family has plans to charge the police agents responsible for delivering a video showing a minor incriminating himself to several TV channels, in violation of Law 24-94. A 14-year-old boy is shown implicating others in connection with the Navarrete disturbances in the interior. Police Chief …

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El Caribe newspaper reports that Dominican Municipal League employees making over RD$5,000 feel discriminated against by a 20% wage reduction. The reduction comes at a time when the same organization has ordered a considerable increase in the pay city aldermen received. The League alleged monetary difficulties when making the reduction. Nevertheless, the government almost doubled …

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The American Chamber of Commerce urged the government to reduce the value-added tax (ITBIS), apply it to all products and services, increase the income tax deductible, reduce the exchange reserve of banks, reduce the income tax percentage on business profits, and the exchange commission. Andres Aybar, president of the American Chamber of Commerce, spoke at …

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Former Central Bank governor and member of the Monetary Board Hugo Guiliani told Hoy newspaper that the government needs to attract foreign investment that generates dollars not pesos. He said this would lessen the pressure on the balance of payments created when foreign companies send their profits back home. Hoy newspaper reports that foreign companies …

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Luis Molina Achecar, president of the BHD Bank, confirmed that interest rates are dropping. He said banks are paying 16-18% on deposit certificates and lending at around 24%. Molina commented that the large commercial account rates drop first, and then consumer rates. Andres Aybar, president of the Banco Mercantil, confirmed the trend in Hoy newspaper. …

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Victor Mendez Capellan, president of Remesadora Vimenca (Western Union representative in the DR) forecasts that remittances to the DR will be up 25-30% this year in comparison to last year. He said money sent home to people in the DR in May was up 30%. He believes the DR receives more than US$2,000 million a …

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Diario Libre newspaper reports that two Dominican art collectors, Isaac Lif and Manuel Pimentel, purchased “Madre Feliz”, a painting done in 1949 by Mexican Rufino Tamayo. They bid US$556,000 to win it at Christie’s auction house yesterday. This was the highest price paid at the Latin American sale yesterday. Manuel Pimentel is the owner of …

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