2004 – Page 122

The government has taken advantage of the 30-day grace period for payment of the interest on the sovereign bonds. The US$27-million payment is due tomorrow, but, according to Hoy newspaper, the Ministry of Finance has not remitted the funds. Felix Calvo, the vice-governor of the Central Bank, said that as of last night the Ministry …

Read more…

The PLD, victorious in the May election, says it is willing to consider a broadening of the ITBIS (value-added tax) base and might well introduce other changes in the proposed legislation now being studied in the lower house of Congress. PLD representatives have said that this new position is in response to the many observations …

Read more…

On Monday, the DR1 News reported the detention of 31 Cubans who were about to make the dangerous voyage to Puerto Rico in a small craft. Things apparently became complicated, however. Siquio NG, the head of Immigration, told reporters that he had no information on the case and today?s El Caribe tells the story of …

Read more…

Alert customs authorities recovered 194 pieces of authentic pre-Colombian artifacts at the Miami airport. Last March, according to an article in yesterday?s Miami Herald and carried in the Diario Libre and other Dominican papers, a customs official confiscated 408 pieces of pre-Colombian artifacts from the luggage of a passenger coming from the Dominican Republic. The …

Read more…

The oh-so-argued bill to establish new (and lesser) protected-area demarcations within the Dominican National Park system has been returned to Congress by President Mejia for a third time. This time, the President is requesting some more changes be made on the so-called ?recreation area? in the Cabo Rojo-Bahia de las Aguilas (Bay of Eagles) zone …

Read more…

President George Bush and President Hipolito Mejia will sign the Free Trade Agreement during the first week in August, according to a front page story from the Listin Diario. A lobby is under effect in Washington, D.C. to achieve the passing of the treaty in the US Congress. The officials from the Ministry of Industry …

Read more…

The American Chamber of Commerce has come out in favor of the free trade agreement with the United States. ?The FTA represents opportunities for an increased flow of foreign investment, an increase in export production and more direct presence in the world?s largest consumer market, as well as opportunities to consolidate and diversify the productive …

Read more…

The National Council for Private Enterprise (CONEP) alongside the Young Entrepreneurs? Association (ANJE) are calling for a quick approval of the tax reform package. The two organizations are appealing for an ?urgent? ratification of the tax package currently under study in the Chamber of Deputies ?in the least amount of time possible.? Elena Viyella de …

Read more…

Professor of Economics at the Johns Hopkins University and Forbes columnist, Steve H. Hanke concludes that the incoming Leonel Fernandez administration will need to embrace bold reforms to reverse the present recession and double-digit inflation. Hanke?s proposal is in keeping with the argument being made for less taxes and currency liberalization made by economist Frederic …

Read more…

The virtual paralysis of the Nuestra Senora de la Altagracia Maternity Hospital, the leading women?s hospital in the country, which had supposedly reopened its doors, has provoked hordes of women looking to give birth in other hospitals around Santo Domingo. In view of the situation, the Luis Eduardo Aybar and the San Lorenzo de Los …

Read more…