Paliza backs salary indexation but warns it shouldn’t harm the poor

Santo Domingo.- Minister of the Presidency José Ignacio Paliza described the proposed salary indexation as a valuable tool to strengthen the purchasing power of Dominican workers but cautioned that it must not come at the expense of the country’s most vulnerable citizens.

“Indexing can greatly help workers, especially the Dominican middle class, but it cannot be done at the expense of the poor,” Paliza stated after the PRM Executive Directorate meeting on Friday. He recalled that the measure was part of the government’s reform proposal introduced last year to bolster family incomes amid persistent inflation.

Paliza emphasized that the main challenge is determining how to offset the revenue the State would lose if the measure is applied. However, he rejected suggestions—such as those made by legislator Omar Fernández—that funding could come from eliminating subsidies and social programs, noting that these assist more than 700,000 Dominicans and have helped reduce poverty to historically low levels.