Santo Domingo.- The non-financial public sector debt (NFPS) stood at US$44.7 billion at yearend 2020, a US$8.7 billion jump in new commitments during that year, compared to the US$35.9 billion that the debt accumulated a year before.
This is the highest increase in debt recorded in the last five decades, and occurs amid the collapse of tax revenues prompted by the measures adopted to stop COVID-19 infections in the country.
According to preliminary data from the Finance Ministry’s Public Credit Directorate, the largest contracting of new debt was concentrated in international markets, through a US$5.6 billion sovereign bond at the end of last year. The accumulated amount of commitments with holders of foreign debt papers was US$22.2 billion.