2005

Wishing everyone happy holidays and the best in 2006, DR1 Daily News reminds its readers that we will be taking our customary break for the New Year holidays. There will be no news updates on Thursday, 29 December through Monday, 2 January. A Tuesday, 3 January 2006 edition will summarize news events over those days. …

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The announcement made by President Leonel Fernandez last Monday that his administration would create 500,000 jobs has been re-worded by the President’s Press Secretary. According to today’s papers, the presidential spokesperson told reporters that what the President really meant was that during his administration the nation would see the creation of 500,000 new jobs. The …

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President Leonel Fernandez decided to heed the call by Cardinal Nicolas de Jesus Lopez Rodriguez to halt political campaigning during the holiday festivities. As a result he left thousands waiting in Monte Cristi, where four helicopters and 33 vehicles were awaiting his arrival. Among the vehicles was the black SUV with the 0-1 license plate. …

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Nine hundred and sixty non-governmental organizations (NGOs) were excluded from the 2006 budget, and this has turned the legislative debates into heated arguments. The reason is quite simple: Many of the NGOs were being ‘sponsored’ by legislators who apparently received important benefits from the organizations. According to Listin Diario, when the budget cuts for NGOs …

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To sweeten Congressional approval of the 2006 budget, the Presidency is including a 50.7% increase in the budget assigned to the legislators themselves. The increases will go towards per diems, attire, fuel, insurance, and advertising, administrative expenditures and other approved expenses. Clave Digital points out that percentage-wise, the increase is much higher than the amount …

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Presidential Minister Danilo Medina has told reporters that the government would continue operating on the 2005 budget until the Congress approves the law required for the 2006 budget to become effective. He said that the Congress does not have enough time to look at the legislation and get it passed between now and 31 December. …

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According to the IMF the Dominican government has two options to compensate for the resources that it will lose when it abolishes the exchange commission tax on dollars used to import anything into the Dominican Republic: one is to continue collecting the tax all year long, and the second is to eliminate the subsidies on …

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The government watchdog group, Citizen Participation (Participacion Ciudadana) has released its report card for 2005. It called the increase in “burdensome” public officials, the lack of results in the fight against government corruption and the tightening in public expenditures the most serious weaknesses of the current administration. Their report, “The 2005 Balance Sheet and Perspectives …

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CONEP – the National Council of Private Business – has called on the government to grant autonomous status to both the Customs Office (DGA) and the Internal Revenue office (DGII). The idea is to equip these important parts of the financial system with the needed changes required by DR-CAFTA and the IMF Stand-by accords. The …

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The major challenge for pension fund administrators is to approve and apply new financial tools aimed at de-concentrating investments in short term commercial bank paper and thereby reducing risks. According to sources within the industry, at least one such tool has been identified and that is mortgage paper. These are long term, very liquid and …

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