One of the lowest rates in 10 years, Q1 growth came in far below expectations at just 0.3% y/y. Nearly every field shrank: local manufacturing, construction, commerce, hotels, bars and restaurants, and energy and water. The collapse was the result of falling domestic demand, both due to the recent tax ...

Economic activity in Q1 was lower than expected, at 1%-1.5%, due to the effects of tax reform, and slim investment spending. But an increase in capital spending was announced, and successful allocation of $1 billion in sovereign bonds in April will ease the foreign exchange market. So we expect more ...

Barrick Gold Corp. and the government are at loggerheads over terms of a contract for the exploitation of a large gold mine in the community of Pueblo Viejo. The public questioned the terms of the contract from the start, even though it had been approved both by Congress and the executive branch, and ...

Following the tax reform passed in November, monthly inflation rate in January 2013 reached 1.26%. This is twice as much as in December (0.63%) and almost three times the inflation rate registered in January 2012 (0.44%). Nonetheless, year-over-year inflation has shown a diminishing tendency because ...

Banco de Reservas de la República Dominicana, commonly known as Banreservas, a State-owned commercial bank and one of the largest in the system, recently issued Subordinated Notes for USD 300 mm. A heated debate took place in the Dominican Republic media on whether the notes should be considered public ...

We forecast a sizeable reduction in economic activity for the first quarter of 2013. We expect GDP to grow by 2.8%. It will be the third consecutive first quarter to register growth deceleration. The impact of increase in the VAT and other taxes on consumption will be severe. The Central Bank is estimating ...

In spite of the dramatic fiscal expansion in 2012, economic activity slowed with respect to 2011. The dissociation between public spending growth and overall economic growth has raised serious concerns with respect to the quality of expenditure during the first eight months of 2012. However, new official ...

Lower growth, severe fiscal strains and pressures on the exchange rate have been the most outstanding characteristics of recent economic performance. Official figures estimate the growth rate for January-September 2012 at 3.9%. That figure marks the second consecutive year of declining growth. Also,

New data released by the government set the consolidated public sector deficit at DOP 187.3 billions or 8.2% of the GDP. Non-financial public sector deficit would reach DOP 155.9 billions or 6.8% of GDP and the quasi-fiscal deficit (Central Bank) would amount to DOP 31.4 billions of 1.4% of GDP. President ...

The inauguration speech of Danilo Medina was enthusiastically received by public opinion, prompting a wave of optimism among the business community, Catholic Church, civil society organizations, and even the political opposition. However, just a few hours later, the appointment of the Cabinet was received ...

On May 21 the Central Bank announced a seventy-five basis point reduction of overnight deposit interest rates, from 6.75% to 6%. According to the monetary authorities, with this measure they were looking to reboot the economy at no inflation risk. On June 15, the CBRD (Central Bank of the Dominican ...

The Partido de la Liberación Dominicana (PLD) won the presidential elections held on May 20. The official ballot, in which Danilo Medina/Margarita Cedeño were running for the PLD and several allied parties, got 51.8% of the total valid vote against the 46.9% favoring Hipólito Mejía/Luis Abinader, the ...

Economic stability is an illusion: changes are urgently needed. The next administration needs to tackle high unemployment, the current account deficit, rising public debt, a big fiscal deficit, and scant domestic savings for financing investment. Yet the next president, whether Danilo Medina of outgoing ...

Exports in the Dominican Republic have had a modest performance with a clear downward trend as opposed to the gross domestic product (GDP) fast growing pace and despite the free trade agreements that the country signed in 2005 and 2008. Economists and entrepreneurs have pointed out that lack of productivity,

Since the early 1990s the Dominican economy implemented important economic and institutional reforms, nonetheless its macroeconomic situation has not improved towards economic stability. Its short run economic growth has been guaranteed by an increasing public debt and several tax reforms. These tax ...

The majority of DR population has been waiting for the conclusion of the Seventh review of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Stand-By Agreement (SBA) signed by the Dominican Government. The IMF mission came to the Dominican Republic (DR) last August 2011 and a few days later Dominican government ...

Next year, Barrick Gold Dominicana (BGD) will start producing and exporting around one million ounces of gold, leading (together with Falconbridge) the local mining sector. In addition, up to this date, about 97 mining exploration requests have been submitted to the Ministry of Industry and Commerce ...

The presidential elections are nine months away in Dominican Republic and its inhabitants are getting ready for this upcoming democratic event. Government officials have made a huge effort trying to convince the general population that the current administration is successfully applying corrective measures ...

The domestic and external public debt grew considerably during the last four years to finance the expansive fiscal policy. As a result, the economy has achieved one of the highest economic growth rates within the Latin America region. Nonetheless, the high economic growth shows long run inconsistencies,