2004 – Page 115

The Central Bank reported on Friday a lowered interest rate on new certificates of deposit issued by the institution. This is the second time the bank has reduced the yield that once had climbed to 60%. New issuances at 30-day terms will now earn 40% interest, down from a previous 45%. The new rate applies …

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Special inspectors from the Ministry of Industry & Commerce have detected a fraud of over RD$4 billion in the sales of adulterated fuels at the service stations. The discovery of the discrepancy is owed to the collaboration provided by US and Israeli technicians hired by the ministry to assist the Special Corps for Fuel Control. …

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El Caribe columnist Bernardo Vega presents a very plainly worded and coherent solution to one of the most prickly problems facing the incoming administration. Some will remember that over four years ago the PLD offered to cede the lands being used by the Herrera Airport as payment for debts contracted by the government in various …

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An El Caribe report on the DR?s jails that reads like a manual of poor prison management gives some interesting statistics. Sixty-eight percent of the inmates in the jails on the Dominican Republic are under 35 years of age with very little education, says the report, and more than 30% of those held have no …

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President Hipolito Mejia forwarded the Senate a bill that would permit government workers with two to twenty years of service to opt for a tax-free vehicle. As reported in Hoy, the measure includes the Executive, Legislative and Judicial branches as well as the Central Electoral Board (JCE) and the municipal governments, and all those people …

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During a trip to inaugurate government housing and a hospital, President Hipolito Mejia called the incoming PLD party a ?bunch of mediocre and irresponsible people,? adding that ?they won?t do anything? for the country. Shortly after, as reported in Hoy, the President told the press that he had ordered a disbursement of RD$1.2 billion to …

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The normally quiet residential areas, populated by upper- and upper middle-class income families, have joined in the protests against the incessant blackouts. El Caribe features a picture of residents in Santo Domingo Este picketing the offices of AES, and the story by Kaelis Bautista and Francis Mesa reports that Arroyo Hondo and Piantini are organizing …

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AES-Corporation, the parent company of tormented AES-Dominicana and AES-Andres, has reported a 14% increase in sales in the second quarter of this year. In a press release sent to the local newspapers, AES said their profits have climbed 20%, from US$539 million to US$648 million. And so, on the local scene, the Trust Company of …

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Senate president Jesus ?Chu? Vasquez Martinez told reporters yesterday that the tax reform package will be a bitter pill to swallow for the Dominican people, but that he sees no other viable option that would fulfill the obligations the country has with the IMF. At the same time, Vasquez appealed to the industrialists and the …

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As reported in El Nacional, the National Department of Investigations (DNI) detained three employees of the government?s Migration Department in their scrutiny of numerous Chinese nationals holding DR residencies. During the course of their investigation, the agents detected a forged signature of Migration Director Siquio Ng de la Rosa, as well as a falsified official …

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