Economist questions the country’s ‘loony race toward debt’

Santo Domingo.- Prominent economist MiguelCeara Hatton on Wednesday slammed the country’s "loony race to indebtedness"in which Danilo Medina’s administration continues to steer the DominicanRepublic toward severe fiscal restraints.

He said on the one side that backdrop willcome about "for the good, through restructured spending, a ban on loans to cover current expenses,accountability, loan audit, fiscal responsibility," or badly, through a"painful fiscal adjustment Imposed by creditors, which will imply moretaxes, austerity, unemployment and poverty."

He said the Government is must clarify the"unusual" US$50 million loan approved to cover the Finance Ministry’scurrent expenses.

"Why do you need a US$50 million RD$2.3billion) loan to produce minutes of meetings, drafts of resolutions, actionplans, memos, communications of resolutions and articles of laws?" Cearaasks, quoted by acento.com.do.

"If that money was spent, which is themost likely, then what you’re seeking is to launder an illegal operation tospend outside the legal Budget.