The government has given in to the International Monetary Fund’s demand that they be allowed to look into the acquisition of the electricity distribution companies known as the “Edes”. Hoy newspaper leads with a report which quotes Finance Minister Rafael Calderon as saying that this consent should rapidly re-establish normal relations with the IMF, which had withdrawn its delegation from the country in the wake of the government’s decision to renationalize the electric companies. Upon this withdrawal, it also suspended all disbursements of funds, leading to fears that the standby agreement was in peril. Dominican and IMF experts will now look into the fiscal implications of the takeover of Ede-Sur and Ede-Norte, said Calderon. President Hipolito Mejia had authorized a letter of invitation to the IMF, asking them to return to the DR at the “next convenient date” for this purpose. Calderon said that no new IMF measures, such as new taxes or tax increases, would be necessary as a result of the deal, which in his opinion would reduce rather than increase the government’s expenditure.<\/p>\n
Calderon also admitted that the Central Bank’s reserves were at a low level, but that this was a temporary circumstance and within the IMF parameters. He defended the CB’s decision to liberalize the exchange market, expressing his belief that the real dollar-peso rate should stand at no more than RD$28 and that this view was shared by the export and free trade zone sectors. US dollars were being exchanged for more than RD$33 yesterday. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The government has given in to the International Monetary Fund’s demand that they be allowed to look into the acquisition of the electricity distribution companies known as the “Edes”. Hoy newspaper leads with a report which quotes Finance Minister Rafael Calderon as saying that this consent should rapidly re-establish normal relations with the IMF, which … <\/p>\n