World Bank dangles US$1.8B, but Dominican Gov. needs more

Santo Domingo.- The fiscal deficit is expected to be reduced from 2.7% to 2.3% of the gross GDP during the period 2021-2026, but the Dominican Republic needs more fiscal space for health services, social safety nets , public investments, the accumulation of reserves against natural disasters and to ensure a descending debt trajectory.

The World Bank Group raises in its new report for the Country Alliance Framework with which they plan to invest US$1.8 billion in development projects.

In the heels of the effects caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, the Dominican Government created an economic and social aid plan to help the population cope with the economic crisis that was aggravated by the war between Russia and Ukraine.

The set of measures aimed at reducing the impact on citizens’ out-of-pocket spending has consumed more than 11.0 billion pesos in these first four months of 2022, more than was spent in all of 2021, when it was calculated that spending was for 15.0 billion pesos, according to the Ministry of Economy, Planning and Development (MEPyD).

Despite the variation in the pace of public spending, the Minister of Economy, Ceara Hatton, assured that the development of the budget execution has been satisfactory and that the fiscal balance continues to be positive.