2005 – Page 221

Although the numbers vary according to which newspaper you read, somewhere between 615,000 and 800,000 of the poorest families in the Dominican Republic will start receiving what are being called “Solidarity Cards”, a type of debit card that can be used in the “Comer is primero” (Eating comes first), “Tarjeta de Assitencia Escolar” (Scholastic Assistance …

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A boycott by fourteen PRD senators kept the much discussed bond issues from getting a vote yesterday. The Senate started its session with a bare minimum of 17 senators present, however, Santiago senator Victor Mendez abandoned the floor, and broke the quorum. Senate president Andres Bautista told reporters that “outside efforts” had pressured Mendez to …

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On Sunday, the day the Christian world remembers the Resurrection of the Christ, holders of Dominican sovereign bonds will receive their own cash resurrection: US$23.7 million. This coupon payment will, according to the El Caribe, neutralize some of the efforts the government is trying to carry out in order to get money back into circulation, …

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Former president of the National Council of Business, Celso Marranzini urged that the government reduce the exchange rate and lower interest rates on loans in order to motorize the economy. He also said that the economy would benefit if allowed to float to its real price of RD$30-RD$32 and not the present RD$28-US$1. He said …

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The Central Bank announced on 22 March new interest rates for savings certificates to the public. Thirty-day certificates will reap for 14%, 90-day certificates 15%, 180-day certificates 16% and 365-day certificates 17%. Certificates may be redeemed after the first 30 days, with payment of a penalty. Early redeemed certificates will go for: 31-89 days will …

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Diario Libre reports that the new ruling that obliges banks to grant loans based only on income tax presented statements has reduced the number of loan requests. The newspaper says that a source indicated that only 19% of the large bank clients fall in categories A, B and C, while 81% fall in the C, …

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Just like the television announcements from the United States, local banks are warring over car loans. The situation comes from an excess liquidity in the banks, that has resulted in an abundance of “Auto Fairs” sponsored by the banks. While the 0% car loan is not even on the horizon yet, interest rates have fallen …

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On a local television show yesterday morning, Monsignor Agripino Nunez Collado told host Haime Thomas Frias Carela, just what happened regarding his visits to Hipolito Mejia and Leonel Fernandez last week. Newspaper reports had said that the monsignor, well known as a mediator, had taken messages from President Fernandez to former chief executive Mejia, asking …

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Documents confiscated in a search of the home of former deputy Environment Minister Andres Escarraman reveal that the green houses installed in the Jarabacoa vacation home built for former President Hipolito Mejia in Jarabacoa cost RD$30 million. The materials were imported from Chile and other countries. Investigators of the Department for Prevention of Corruption carried …

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The prosecutor and the president of the Dominican Drug Control Department (DNCD), Ivan Pena Castillo met yesterday for two hours with New York assistant prosecutors, Jaikumhar Ramaswami, who is the assistant prosecutor for the Southern District of New York for money laundering, and David J. Barardinelli, the assistant prosecutor for criminal affairs for the Southern …

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