Think tank predicts loss of 600,000 jobs in 2020

Santo Domingo.- The Regional Center for Sustainable Economic Strategies (Crees) projects severe unemployment in the country, from 400,000 to 600,000 jobs in 2020, as the economic effects of the COVID-19 are much stronger than predicted by multilateral organizations.

Crees executive vice president, Ernesto Selman, indicated that unemployment will jump to around 20% this year, a situation that will especially affect the restaurant, bar and hotel sectors, as well as construction and free zones, among others.

As to the Dominican GDP), Selman estimates it will contract in 2020 around -10% to -12%, a much more pessimistic scenario than that indicated by ECLAC and the World Bank, which project a flat growth, or even that of the International Monetary Fund, which calculates an economic decline of -1% in the country.

“International organizations have been irresponsible in their projections of the Dominican Republic. They are assuming that tourism will drop only -30% and that will not be the case.”