Finance chief refutes World Bank’s stance on rising debt

Santo Domingo.- Finance minister Donald Guerrero on Tues. said he disagrees with the assessments divulged yesterday by the World Bank local representative Alessandro Legrottaglie, who affirmed that the public debt is on an upward trend and should be contained.

He said Legrottaglie’s assessments, published by Listin Diario, “are not based on available information or sustainable facts.”

“The level of debt is not even among the highest in the region,” because for the non-financial public sector, “the Dominican Republic’s debt was around 39% of GDP at yearend 2017, when the average for the region was 44%.”

Guerrero said despite the limited revenue, which on average was 14.9% in 2017 compared to 23% of the regional GDP of Latin America, the government manages taxpayer money in a balanced manner and without risking their sustainability over time

In just five years, the official said, more than 1.2 million people left poverty, “thanks to economic growth and social policies undertaken by the government of president Danilo Medina.”