2005 – Page 2

Expatriate Dominicans and tourists in town for the New Year holidays will enjoy the increase in the local purchasing power of the US dollar or the euro. As of Wednesday, the peso’s worth declined, and each dollar was reaping RD$35. This is the highest in a 12-month period. For continuous updates on actual exchange transactions, …

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A major headache for holiday shoppers is that businesses are wary in receiving RD$2,000 bills. The problem is that counterfeit bills have been circulating. But this is compounded by the fact that the Central Bank has two distinct versions of RD$2,000 in circulation, adding to the confusion. As reported in last Wednesday’s DR1 News, there …

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Former civil registrar Luis Felipe Rodriguez who became well known when he provided birth certificates free of charge, has filed a formal complaint against the Central Electoral Board (JCE) magistrates. He is accusing them of irregular practices, including embezzlement. He defined embezzlement as the “illicit demand of payment for services that are supposed to be …

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Both the Aguilas and Licey have won their two first games of the round-robin tournament. On Monday night, Licey took 11 innings to beat the pesky Azucareros. Losing 8 – 7 in the eleventh inning, Licey was able to come from behind and score the tying and winning runs, after managing to tie the game …

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In an address to the press yesterday, President Leonel Fernandez said that one of the government’s goals for next year is the creation of half a million new jobs, according to a reports in the local press. He expects the economy to grow by more than 9% – “one of the highest growth rates in …

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Former Dominican ambassador in Washington, DC, Bernardo Vega speculates in an op-ed contribution in El Caribe newspaper that it is almost certain that the US Trade Representative office will announce that El Salvador, and possibly also Nicaragua have met with the requirements for entering DR-CAFTA and will begin to benefit from the treaty. He comments …

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Diario Libre announces that the Fernandez government is giving priority to several mega projects. These include the allocation of RD$1.8 billion to the construction of the rapid-transport system entrusted to the newly created Oficina para el Reordenamiento del Transporte (OPRET) headed by engineer Diandino Pena. This is in addition to the RD$725 million assigned in …

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PRSD president Hatuey De Camps has said that in spite of the possible electoral alliance being negotiated with PLD, he will not support the construction of the Metro. Any alliance achieved must be made on the basis of a program agreement that includes the organic separation of the two political parties. De Camps made these …

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Rafael Miolan, spokesman for the Novo Mundo Siglo XXI, the promoters of Santo Domingo’s artificial island, has said that the estimated one million meters of landfill material would come from 160 mines in the National District. He defended the quality of initial environmental studies carried out by Spanish firm Iberinsa, and said that there would …

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During the first 10 months of 2005, Dominican exports grew to US$860 million – an 18.5% increase compared to the same period in 2004 – according to the Center for Exports and Investments (CEI-RD), as reported by El Caribe. The increase is attributed to the US economy’s 4.4% recovery during 2004 and the foreign trade …

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