NewsWhore
07-11-2008, 05:00 PM
President Leonel Fernandez threw journalists a curve ball yesterday during a press conference held at the Presidential Palace. Instead of speaking about the state of the economy or how the DR would face the current fuel and economic crisis, Fernandez chose to discuss speculation on the trading market and how this is inflating the real price of fuel.
Although the nation was expecting Fernandez to announce a set of measures aimed at alleviating the current situation, the President said that this plan would be announced some time next week and that he would submit a budget to Congress for the plan to be funded by surplus tax revenues.
Local business groups have been pressing for the government to set an example by cutting its own spending, but President Fernandez instead shared his broader picture of the oil problems and listed his international efforts to tackle the problems on a global level.
He stressed that he was working on creating a US$40 billion solidarity fund to benefit a block of 57 nations in Asia, Africa and Latin America (Haiti included). This would come from a small percentage of the 1.3 trillion dollars that he says oil producer countries have accumulated for crude sales at record prices. This way, the countries that are benefiting from the oil bonanza can funnel a small portion of their earnings into development projects in the countries that are hardest hit. He says that former US President Bill Clinton and former UN secretary general Kofi Annan are supporting this initiative.
Fernandez also said that the DR would support initiatives proposed by the US Senate aimed at halting speculation on the petroleum market and bringing down fuel prices. According to Fernandez, who cited commentary by the head of Exxon Mobil, speculation has caused fuel prices to balloon by 40% and that if speculation were to be regulated a barrel of oil would sell for US$90 per barrel and not at the current price of US$140 per barrel.
Fernandez added that during his visit to Maracaibo, Venezuela he would ask President Hugo Chavez if the DR could access an extra 20,000 barrels per day of Venezuelan fuel as part of the PetroCaribe oil agreement. This would bring the DR's total fuel imports from Venezuela to 50,000 barrels per day.
At one point Fernandez was asked whether the government bureaucracy should be downsized. Fernandez acknowledged that there is a need to downsize government, but in the same breath he once again referred to international fuel prices and said that the reduction of government would not be an issue if subsidies on the energy and transport sectors weren't so high. He said that the subsidies are so high because fuel prices are so high. Fernandez warned that because of the fuel crunch inflation could reach double digits by the end of the year and said that the growth of the GDP would only reach 0.7% as a result.
On the issue of immigration, Fernandez mentioned recent European policy changes towards immigrants and commented on the increased levels of illegal Haitian migration to the DR. The President stated that any sovereign nation has the right to enforce its laws, especially in the area of migration. He said the repatriation of thousands of Dominicans would be financially as well as socially devastating, because the DR would lose out on millions of dollars and euros in remittances from those immigrants. The President said that he was opposed to the random searches of foreigners in Europe based on appearance alone, describing the practice as degrading and inhumane.
Fernandez also stated his opposition, as has been reported in some European news outlets, to immigrants in Europe being stopped and asked for documentation or arrested because they did not have their documents to hand. The President said that in no way can he support illegal immigration of Dominicans to Europe, while denying the same here with regards to Haitians.
Fernandez also quelled concerns that the government would try to implement a new fiscal reform. Fernandez said there would not be any new taxes, but added that the government is looking into cost-cutting mechanisms and ways to increase its revenues. He stated that the energy sector is the nation's biggest headache and that the government is working on a way to make it more efficient.
More... (http://www.dr1.com/index.html#1)
Although the nation was expecting Fernandez to announce a set of measures aimed at alleviating the current situation, the President said that this plan would be announced some time next week and that he would submit a budget to Congress for the plan to be funded by surplus tax revenues.
Local business groups have been pressing for the government to set an example by cutting its own spending, but President Fernandez instead shared his broader picture of the oil problems and listed his international efforts to tackle the problems on a global level.
He stressed that he was working on creating a US$40 billion solidarity fund to benefit a block of 57 nations in Asia, Africa and Latin America (Haiti included). This would come from a small percentage of the 1.3 trillion dollars that he says oil producer countries have accumulated for crude sales at record prices. This way, the countries that are benefiting from the oil bonanza can funnel a small portion of their earnings into development projects in the countries that are hardest hit. He says that former US President Bill Clinton and former UN secretary general Kofi Annan are supporting this initiative.
Fernandez also said that the DR would support initiatives proposed by the US Senate aimed at halting speculation on the petroleum market and bringing down fuel prices. According to Fernandez, who cited commentary by the head of Exxon Mobil, speculation has caused fuel prices to balloon by 40% and that if speculation were to be regulated a barrel of oil would sell for US$90 per barrel and not at the current price of US$140 per barrel.
Fernandez added that during his visit to Maracaibo, Venezuela he would ask President Hugo Chavez if the DR could access an extra 20,000 barrels per day of Venezuelan fuel as part of the PetroCaribe oil agreement. This would bring the DR's total fuel imports from Venezuela to 50,000 barrels per day.
At one point Fernandez was asked whether the government bureaucracy should be downsized. Fernandez acknowledged that there is a need to downsize government, but in the same breath he once again referred to international fuel prices and said that the reduction of government would not be an issue if subsidies on the energy and transport sectors weren't so high. He said that the subsidies are so high because fuel prices are so high. Fernandez warned that because of the fuel crunch inflation could reach double digits by the end of the year and said that the growth of the GDP would only reach 0.7% as a result.
On the issue of immigration, Fernandez mentioned recent European policy changes towards immigrants and commented on the increased levels of illegal Haitian migration to the DR. The President stated that any sovereign nation has the right to enforce its laws, especially in the area of migration. He said the repatriation of thousands of Dominicans would be financially as well as socially devastating, because the DR would lose out on millions of dollars and euros in remittances from those immigrants. The President said that he was opposed to the random searches of foreigners in Europe based on appearance alone, describing the practice as degrading and inhumane.
Fernandez also stated his opposition, as has been reported in some European news outlets, to immigrants in Europe being stopped and asked for documentation or arrested because they did not have their documents to hand. The President said that in no way can he support illegal immigration of Dominicans to Europe, while denying the same here with regards to Haitians.
Fernandez also quelled concerns that the government would try to implement a new fiscal reform. Fernandez said there would not be any new taxes, but added that the government is looking into cost-cutting mechanisms and ways to increase its revenues. He stated that the energy sector is the nation's biggest headache and that the government is working on a way to make it more efficient.
More... (http://www.dr1.com/index.html#1)