2005 – Page 40

Of the 168 requirements undertaken with the United States and the Central American countries in order to enter the regional free trade agreement, the Dominican Republic has fulfilled 101. This information was released by Francisco Javier Garcia, the Minister of Industry and Commerce, as he spoke with industry leaders during a meeting at the V …

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It is becoming clearly apparent that the Dominican Chamber of Deputies is stalled over the government’s requirement to broaden the VAT tax base to include cooking oils, sugar and coffee, among other things. Diario Libre says that Alfredo Pacheco, the chamber president, has confirmed the stalemate. He said that the difference between the addition of …

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After just finishing a revision of the dispensations required for the fulfillment of obligations with the IMF, a new team from the international financial organization is arriving in the DR today to begin two weeks of revisions. This is the third revision of the accord and corresponds to the period July-December of this year. The …

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One of the outcomes of the IV Summit of the Americas was the announcement by Mexico’s Vicente Fox that his country would push for an agreement that would permit the member nations of the Central American System of Integration (SICA) to receive energy assistance from Mexico. According to El Caribe, this would allow the Dominican …

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The Central Bank of the Dominican Republic has increased its hard currency reserves to US$1.773 billion as of 31 October, thanks in part to an injection of US$139.2 million from the International Monetary Fund. Net reserves were stated to be US$1.356 billion, up US$83.3 million from the September numbers. The Central Bank communique said that …

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Dominican and Haitian police chiefs met in the border town of Jimani last Friday and came to an agreement to return each other’s criminals who have crossed the frontier to escape justice. They also agreed to extend their fight against drugs and arms trafficking as well as cross-border people and vehicle smuggling. As proof of …

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After several months of silence, the National Commission for Ethics and to Combat Corruption has decided that there were several irregularities in the public tender to construct the Citizens’ Portal. The tender had been held by the Presidential Office for Information Technology (OPTIC). The Ethics Commission recommends that a new public tender be announced. According …

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The traditional Christmas bonus given to almost all workers in the Dominican Republic will reach RD$3.2 billion for government employees. This thirteenth salary is completely covered, according to government sources. This year’s Christmas Bonus is approximately RD$400 million more than last year’s. In large part the increased bonus money is the result of salary increases …

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Starting today there will be 250 special school police officers on duty in several of the nation’s public schools. This move aims to reduce juvenile delinquency within the schools. These police make up the first phase of a total of 500 that are being trained for assignment to the schools. The second contingent will go …

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President Leonel Fernandez submitted three bills to Congress yesterday outlining plans that aim to regulate and organize the country’s financial system. Listin Diario reports that they involve the transformation of the Ministry of Finances into the Ministry of Treasury, the substitution of the Presidential Technical Secretariat with the Ministry of Planning and Development, and a …

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