Country pays IMF US$232.7M on US$1.5B loan: El Caribe

Santo Domingo.- DominicanRepublic paid the International Monetary Fund (IMF) US$232.7 million last year,an amount which virtually settled the loan it took in 2009 to jumpstart the economy.

After the country´s paymentson the loan originally for US$1.5 billion, some US$1.09 billion in SpecialDrawing Rights (SDRs), a balance of US$57.1 million is still pending, which isexpected to be fully paid no later than the first half.

The SDR is the IMF currencybased on an average of the major currencies of member nations.

Elcaribe.com reportsthat although the original loan was for US$1.5 billion, the country didn’treceive all of the funds, because the last stretch of disbursement of some US$500 million didn’t materialize because the 7th and 8th reviewswere left pending approval.

“The gridlockoriginated in the issue of the electrical system which the IMF expected, and theGovernment so had pledged in the letter of intent to make adjustments in theelectricity rate, which was the basis for the agreement,” the outlet reports.

“The government however,which had increased rate of around 19% accumulated in one year, had resistedand the agreement ended in February 2012, leaving one third of the originalamount contracted pending disbursement.”