The government of the Dominican Republic announced yesterday that a delegation had left for Washington, DC in order to negotiate the remaining details of the new IMF program, as reports Beat Siegenthaler of Commerzbank in a release today. Members of the delegation are Technical Secretary of the Presidency Temistocles Montas, Finance Minister Vicente Bengoa and Governor of the Central Bank Hector Valdez Albizu.<\/p>\n
Siegenthaler notes that Technical Secretary of the Presidency Temistocles Montas stated that a letter of intent should be agreed upon within a week and that it would be based on a balanced budget for 2005 (excluding quasi-fiscal balance).<\/p>\n
On the other hand, he reports that Finance Minister Bengoa also said last night that the government will clear all external debt arrears, paying a total sum of $296 million before January 2005. He noted that wiping out all arrear balances was part of the forthcoming agreement with the IMF.<\/p>\n
According to Siegenthaler, DR bonds have rallied over the last few weeks with the expectation of a market-friendly restructuring to be announced once the IMF agreement has been restored. The Domrep 9 1\/2% $2006 is trading on a record high of 95 today ? up from 87.5 on 18 October ? while the 9.04% $2013 stands at 85.0 today, up from 81 a month ago.<\/p>\n
Commenting on bond investment strategy, Siegenthaler writes that Commerzbank is retaining its overweight recommendation based on the imminence of a finalized IMF accord and subsequent market-friendly restructuring. He adds that, despite the recent rally, they believe there will be a further upside to bond prices once the debt exchange has been implemented successfully.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The government of the Dominican Republic announced yesterday that a delegation had left for Washington, DC in order to negotiate the remaining details of the new IMF program, as reports Beat Siegenthaler of Commerzbank in a release today. Members of the delegation are Technical Secretary of the Presidency Temistocles Montas, Finance Minister Vicente Bengoa and … <\/p>\n