The Technical Secretary to the Presidency, Carlos Despradel, announced last
\nFriday that the Dominican Republic would receive US$50 million from the World
\nBank today, Monday. The funds are purportedly to be used to purchase fuel for
\nelectricity generation. Government authorities are also predicting the new
\ndollar infusion to help stabilize the exchange market. These funds are the first
\ndisbursement of a US$100-million credit approved by the World Bank as part of
\nthe program to lessen the impact of the economic adjustments required by the IMF
\naccords. According to Hoy, most of the funds will be used to purchase fuel for
\nthe generating plants, with any remainder to go to government social plans
\ndesigned to assist the poor. As soon as the US$50 million is appropriately
\nallocated, there will be another disbursement of US$25 million and the process
\nto be repeated upon the expenditure of the US$25 million, thus constituting the
\nUS$100-million agreement signed by Dominican Ambassador Hugo Guiliani Cury.
\nOfficials said this new disbursement would stabilize the supply of fuel for the
\npower generators for the next few months. According to Minister Carlos
\nDespradel, the three-part loan agreement will extend US$80 million towards the
\npurchase of fuel, US$12.5 million to strengthen the regulatory and supervisory
\ncapacity of key agencies within the Dominican financial system and US$7.3
\nmillion for use in the government programs for consumer protection.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Technical Secretary to the Presidency, Carlos Despradel, announced last Friday that the Dominican Republic would receive US$50 million from the World Bank today, Monday. The funds are purportedly to be used to purchase fuel for electricity generation. Government authorities are also predicting the new dollar infusion to help stabilize the exchange market. These funds … <\/p>\n