A study prepared by the intelligence unit of the economic journal The Economist says that in order to raise foreign investments and increase the volume of commerce, the two most important goals of the Free Trade Agreement (DR-CAFTA), a certain amount of stability “that can only come from a prudent government fiscal policy and a transparent business environment” is needed. The document, released last March, is titled “The Dominican Republic: Beyond the handling of the crisis, challenges in the medium run.”<\/p>\n
The report points out the need to simplify the fiscal system and make it more proactive to better the collections and reduce tax-evasion issues. The Economist proposes that income tax collection be privatized in order to get better results. It maintains that this mechanism is used in other places and has given good results for the accounting firms but most of all, for the governments.<\/p>\n
The paper explains that private participation in income tax collection should be carried out by a public auction in which accounting firms can participate, with the winner getting the most points.<\/p>\n
The Economist recognizes that in the short term there may be some problems for some sectors of the economy, “nonetheless, the overall benefits for the Dominican Republic on joining the DR-CAFTA will be more than the costs.<\/p>\n
The study further states that even though there will be some sectors of the economy that will be “losers” such as agriculture and manufacturing, the ratification of the treaty should be seen as a defensive move. Dominican companies in the textile industry will be most affected because of the elimination of quotas from China.<\/p>\n
Reports carried in El Caribe say that yesterday US legislators considered the DR-CAFTA model to be a failed economic model that will only increase the US trade deficit and cause the loss of US jobs. On the eve of the first hearings in the House of Representatives, several Democrat and Republican legislators, union leaders and businessmen forecast that, in spite of White House rhetoric, the deal would be rejected because it is prejudicial to the US economy.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A study prepared by the intelligence unit of the economic journal The Economist says that in order to raise foreign investments and increase the volume of commerce, the two most important goals of the Free Trade Agreement (DR-CAFTA), a certain amount of stability “that can only come from a prudent government fiscal policy and a … <\/p>\n