Dominican Republic public debt soars to US$51.9B

Santo Domingo.- Consolidated public debt continues to increase, this time due to the emergency commitments that the country had to assume due to COVID-19, and already amounted to US$51.9 billion at the end of the third quarter of the year.

The data published by the Public Credit Directorate of the Ministry of Finance indicates that the consolidated public debt –which includes both that of the central and decentralized government as well as that of the Central Bank- increased by 8.2 billion dollars or 66% of GDP during the last year. It is a similar amount to the total of the international reserves that the country has.

Consolidated public debt in the third quarter was equivalent to 66% of a Gross Domestic Product reduced by the pandemic. “The debt will possibly reach 70% of GDP next year,” estimates the Vice Dean of Economics of the Autonomous University of Santo Domingo (UASD), Antonio Ciriaco. He believes that this level will occur because the General State Budget presented for 2021 is supported by income that may not be achieved on time.