Electricity subsidy: US$134 million

[NewsWhore]

The superintendent of electricity, Francisco Mendez, says that the Dominican government has spent a staggering total of US$134 million on subsidizing the electric sector this year. He called the situation "worrying" and pointed out the ever-increasing price of a barrel of oil. Mendez said that the government would keep the subsidy program going for as long as possible, and added that the cost of fuel used for generating electricity has gone up by 300% since 2004. This year's budget was drawn up based on fuel prices calculated at an average of US$65 a barrel, but current costs are not pegged at US$82 a barrel. The original budget has US$650 million set aside for the subsidy program in the electricity sector, but reality says that true costs will exceed US$1.05 billion.

More... (http://www.dr1.com/index.html#7)