Santo Domingo.- In March of last year, four analysts from Bank of America, a US financial company, released a report on the Dominican Republic, stating that it remained one of the positive stories in Latin America. However, the report included some observations, such as a projected year of unsatisfactory growth and fiscal outcomes in 2023. Despite record tourism, the economy is slowing down considerably.
In addition, the analysts are lowering their forecasts for gross domestic product (GDP) growth in 2023, reducing it from 4.2% to 3%. This percentage is lower than the projections made by international organizations, which place it between 4.2% and 4.6%.
The analysts believe that the government will increase the fiscal policy to avoid a recession, even if it goes against the current position of monetary policy. The Dominican Republic has a history of increased government spending during an electoral cycle, and the slowdown in economic activity provides a justification to increase spending.
BofA Global Research, a service of BofA Securities, published the report, signed by Alexander Müller, the chief economist for the Andean and Caribbean region, Pedro Díaz, the economist for Latin America, and sovereign debt strategists Lucas Martin and Jane Brauer.
Müller and Díaz were part of a Bank of America delegation that met with officials of the Central Bank of the Dominican Republic, including Governor Héctor Valdez Albizu. The analysts spent two days in Santo Domingo meeting with legislators, local investors, business leaders, and academics.