2003 – Page 67

Diario Libre reports that of the 2004 budget’s total, 25% (or $30.3 billion) will go to pay wages. The newspaper says that in 2000, there were 261,006 government workers, but in 2001 this number increased to 287,727. By 2002, this figure was up yet again to 303,275, to where it currently stands at 315,615 employees. …

Read more…

Frederic Emam Zade writes in El Caribe today that the IMF’s press release on the Dominican Republic issued last week is “a wonderful example of diplomatic double-talk.” Emam Zade translates the language used in the formal document that can be read online as follows: IMF says: An IMF mission left Santo Domingo today after reaching …

Read more…

Economist Frederic Emam Zade writes today that the phenomena of “stagflation” has set in, describing the term as a recession accompanied by inflation. Stagflation is marked by a dangerous mix of high inflation (high and increasing prices) and low or negative growth. Emam Zade, in an interview with Hoy newspaper, said this is the worse …

Read more…

Frederic Emam Zade explains in Hoy newspaper today that the Central Bank errs when it does not include the number of dollars currently in circulation in the Dominican Republic in its statements. “In dollarized countries like the Dominican Republic, money in circulation is not only the pesos in circulation, plus pesos deposited in banks, but …

Read more…

In a comparison of the Dominican Republic to China, Hoy’s Rafael Molina Morillo tells of a Chinese official convicted of corruption and executed. “Just like here!” according to Molina, with a few exceptions. In the first place, there is no death penalty in the Dominican Republic, no matter what the crime. Another small difference is …

Read more…

Ramon Baez Figueroa and his cousin Marcos Baez Cocco, the former president and vice-president of the Banco Intercontinental (Baninter), were granted bail on Friday and are expected to be released to their families today. The Qualification Chamber of the National District courts set bail at RD$100 million. The pair is accused of pilfering RD$55 billion …

Read more…

Saturday’s Diario Libre carried Anibal de Castro’s most acerbic editorial in memory, bearing the title “The Economist’s blame party”. Calling The Economist a temple of liberalism and particular English humor, De Castro looks at their most recent advice: that the IMF should not lend any money to the Dominican Republic because “Any money that the …

Read more…

El Caribe newspaper asks Dominican politicians to give Dominicans the ultimate Christmas gift: a 10-day political hiatus so the holidays can be celebrated in peace. The editorial writer says the truce would also enable the politicians to take a vacation, thus giving the people and the media a chance to dedicate more time and space …

Read more…

It is reported that President Hipolito Mejia is making a swift trip to the Central American state of Belize, to sign some agreements with the Belizean government and hold meetings with potential investors and other business representatives. According to the Diario Libre, Mejia will meet with representatives of SICA (Central American Integration System), which is …

Read more…

Jose Alfredo Rizek, the executive director of the Foundation for Institutionalism and Justice (FINJUS), comments today that the government may be trying to pull a sort of fast-track tributary reform and he alerts Congress to the challenge it has before it. Rizek writes to explain that if Congress approves the budget as is, it automatically …

Read more…