Price of oil concerns Dominican leader

Santo Domingo.- -President Luis Abinader warned Wed. that the main concern of the Government this year is “the inflation produced by an increase in the price of oil, which are factors that we cannot control.”

The president affirmed that if the price of oil continues to rise, it will be impossible to maintain the fuel subsidy in the country, for which he explained that the Government is not prepared for the barrel to rise much.

“It is impossible to continue. We subsidized the price of oil, of all hydrocarbons, last year for about US$13.0 billion. It is impossible to continue with that. It’s impossible,” said Abinader on ColorVision.

He added that the cost of natural gas and coal has risen, which has also impacted electricity generation, at the same time that he said that a barrel of Brent oil was quoted at 83 dollars and West Texas at 81.

He indicated that if oil continues to rise, he will have to consult various sectors of the population to find a way out, especially to avoid higher inflation, since the inflationary effect of oil is transversal throughout the economy.

Meanwhile, the head of state assured that the country is doing well in economic terms, predicting that it will end this year with a positive 5% in relation to the previous year, with a greater number of jobs and much greater production in all areas.