2005 – Page 187

Persia Alvarez, Superintendent of Pensions, said that 1,280,409 participants pension plan members have contributed RD$10.83 billion to the national pension plan as of 31 March. She said that of the pension plan members, 57.5% are under 35 years, 39.9% are 35 to 59 years and 2.6% are older than 60 years. She said they are …

Read more…

The largest local transport union, Conatra has announced it will be importing 1,000 of 28, 34 and 45 passenger buses from Vietnam. The transaction was for US$65 million, as reported in Diario Libre. He said that financing is with a Korean financial institution, as reported in Diario Libre. Marte said that they would be requesting …

Read more…

The Ministry of Public Works does not contemplate the expansion of the Ortega y Gasset Avenue as recommended by transport specialist, Hamlet Hermann as an alternative to the proposed transport solution that calls for the construction of an underground metro. Listin Diario reports that engineer Ramon Antonio Inoa, advisor to Public Works Minister Freddy Perez, …

Read more…

Enraged by the murder by machete of a Dominican woman and the serious injury of her husband, the community of Hatillo Palma in northwestern Monte Cristi has acted against Haitians in general living in the community. This is probably the first major xenophobia act in the Dominican Republic. To protect innocent Haitians, the military and …

Read more…

President Leonel Fernandez’s Press Office reports that former US President Clinton has agreed to join the DR-CAFTA lobby that seeks support to convince US legislators to pass the bill. President Fernandez met with former President Bill Clinton and New York Senator Hillary Clinton at their home in Chappaqua, New York yesterday. He visited Clinton together …

Read more…

Inflation in April was barely 0.31% according to the Central Bank. Accumulated inflation for the first four months of the year is 1.07%, well below the 25.24% level of inflation reported for the same period last year. Twelve-month inflation is at 3.9%, in significant contrast with the 62.98% inflation for the same period in 2004. …

Read more…

Franco Uccelli, of Bear Stearns reports that the Dominican government announced last night the results of its bond exchange offer “showing a surprisingly high rate of investor participation”. The final outcome, as reported by Uccelli is: “The aggregate principal of existing bonds tendered totaled US$1.03 billion, equivalent to approximately 93.6% of the total bonds outstanding. …

Read more…

Olga Diaz Mora, advisor to the Central Bank on National Accounts, told Diario Libre that free zone exports during the first three months of the year were US$1.03 billion, not the US$668.9 million reported by the Center for Exports and Investments (CEI-RD). She said the source for the data is the US Department of Commerce. …

Read more…

Tourism Minister Felix Jimenez complained that there are sectors that “are against everything”. He was referring to the opposition by the National Hotel & Restaurant Association to the government imposing a US$5 surcharge on all airfares to the DR sold abroad as of 1 August. Jimenez alleges that the tax would bring in US$20 million …

Read more…

The Coalition for the Defense of Protected Areas considered “extremely unfortunate” the statement made by Felix Jiemenez who accused sectors of having dubious interests linked to drug smuggling, for opposing tourism investment in the Bahia de las Aguilas biosphere reserve area. The president of the Academy of Sciences, Nelson Moreno Ceballos said that the government …

Read more…