Moneychanger balks at alleged dollar shortage

Santo Domingo.- There’s no such thing as a shortage of dollarsin the country, and speculation in the informal market instead, said moneychangerRafael Báez on Tuesday.

"That’s a lie, the banks have dollarsand they are trading them, they are the owners and lords of that currency inthe country," said the operator of the exchange agent Casa de Cambio Báez,on a busy street in the capital.

Quoted by El Nuevo Diario on alleged scarcityof dollars in recent weeks, the business leader stressed that there’s not muchdemand for the US currency at this time of the year.

He said the banks have dollars and sellwhatever the customer requests, and reiterated that there’s no high demand for dollarsat this time.

"Banks are the owners and the lords,they are all a monopoly, and the informal market practically doesn’t exist, weare only a few left, that scarcity does not exist, who in fact have dollars arethe banks."

Central Banker

Hecor Valdez Albizu has reiterated that there´s no shortage of dollars, and attributed a possible crunch to payments of inventories by retailers.