2004 – Page 32

President Leonel Fernandez said yesterday that the 25% tax on corn syrup imports should be eliminated to avoid becoming an obstacle to the free trade agreement with the United States. Fernandez was speaking at the Dialogue Work Shop for the Preparation of the Strategy and Agenda of the Electronic Government 2005-2008 that is taking place …

Read more…

The Chamber of Deputies yesterday approved the second reading of the bill that would increase the wages of public employees by 30% and bring the minimum wage on the government payroll to RD$4,000 per month. While the wage increase in the private sector will benefit only those who earn less than RD$20,000 a month, the …

Read more…

The PRD-majority Senate has voted to replace another of its members. The new senator-elect is Roberto Rodriguez, who although elected to the Senate in 2002 to represent the province of El Seibo chose not to accept the seat because the government post he occupied as director of the nationwide aqueducts department was presumably more convenient. …

Read more…

Diario Libre reports today that the local affiliate of the AES Corporation has sold its shares in the AES Ede-Este power distribution company to TCW Energy Advisors, LLC. The newspaper describes the firm as one of the largest holding companies in the world and speculates that this could have implications for the DR’s sovereignty. TCW …

Read more…

While supermarkets were adjusting their prices upwards on a daily basis when the peso was losing value against the US dollar, the reverse has happened now that the peso has appreciated and, for the most part, the elevated prices are being maintained. But as supermarkets vie to attract consumers by being the store with the …

Read more…

The director of the National Budget Office (Onapres) said that the government expects an average exchange rate of between RD$27-RD$31 to the US dollar for next year. Ruben Pena stated that they had used a rate of RD$37.50 for next year’s national budget in order to gauge income and spending and to have a buffer …

Read more…

News reports say that only ten of the presumed 40 illegal boat travelers were rescued yesterday after their boat went adrift while attempting to reach Miami, Florida. The boat left the DR from Luperon, in the western part of the province of Puerto Plata on the North Coast. Most of the ill-fated travelers were from …

Read more…

The Baseball Writers’ Association of America has named 28-year-old Vladimir Guerrero, the Anaheim Angels’ right-fielder, as the winner of the American League’s Most Valuable Player award. Vladimir Guerrero was back in his native Dominican Republic when he learnt the news. He visited the Presidential Palace and received congratulations from President Leonel Fernandez. “The Dominican people …

Read more…

Technical Secretary of the Presidency Temistocles Montas announced yesterday that the government does not plan to propose new taxes until after the May 2006 election. He said the government would cut its own spending to reduce the fiscal deficit. Furthermore, he said that the government would not execute loans that have been contracted for RD$2 …

Read more…

Technical Secretary of the Presidency Temistocles Montas announced yesterday during the Gobierno de la Manana radio broadcast from the Presidential Palace that the government needs to reduce the power sector’s US$650-million fiscal gap to a maximum of US$250 million in order to resume the stand by agreement with the IMF. The government has announced it …

Read more…