NewsWhore
10-01-2009, 06:00 PM
Clave newspaper highlights that the public debt is now at US$17,396.2 million, according to figures from The Economist. In other words, every baby born in the DR comes into this world owing US$1,845.
Journalist Edwin Ruiz points out that the Ministry of Hacienda only acknowledges a government debt of US$11,358.2 million. He writes that the Dominican government stats do not account for accumulated obligations and debt payments to electricity companies, or the so-called Central Bank quasi-fiscal debt. Clave newspaper says that from January to September 2009 alone, the government approved new loans for US$897.2 million and EUR18.5 million, for US$924.14 million in US$ dollars.
The Economist also forecasts that the debt is rising. It indicates that for 2011, the public debt will have risen to US$19,355.2 million. By then the public debt will have grown from 41.22% of the Gross Domestic Product (2009) to 43.6% of GDP by 2011.
Ruiz says that the Ministry of Hacienda stats report that the debt at US$11.2 billion is 24.3% of the GDP. The Ministry indicates that of this, the foreign debt is US$7.14 billion and has grown 13%, or US$844.5 million, compared to 2006. The domestic debt is estimated in US$4.2 billion. This does not take into account arrears with the electricity sector. The new CDEEE executive vice president Celso Marranzini says the overall debt is US$590 million.
Economist Carlos Asilis told Clave that the levels of debt are a cause for concern. He told the newspaper that the "levels are very close to the ceiling of what the country can bear in the long term." He said that conservatively speaking, the debt could be at 50-55% of GDP. He says that this means that, "the days the Dominican state can continue improvising and applying patches to the Dominican economy will soon be over. He said the government only deals with public finances when its back is against the wall.
"The role of the state in our economy needs to be redefined", he said, "especially with regards to an injection of a high degree of transparency and rationality in public spending, a more proactive approach to the economy and greater economic freedom for the productive sector, by way of less financial repression," he said.
Miguel Ceara Hatton of the United Nations Development Program office said that taking on debt could be good or bad. He said that the country has a serious problem when it comes to the quality of government spending. "There is not enough information about where the money is going," he told the newspaper. He says there is "an institutional framework that does not allow for transparency or accountability." He says that in these circumstances, to go on taking on debt generates many concerns.
For The Economist report, see http://buttonwood.economist.com/content/gdc
More... (http://www.dr1.com/index.html#4)
Journalist Edwin Ruiz points out that the Ministry of Hacienda only acknowledges a government debt of US$11,358.2 million. He writes that the Dominican government stats do not account for accumulated obligations and debt payments to electricity companies, or the so-called Central Bank quasi-fiscal debt. Clave newspaper says that from January to September 2009 alone, the government approved new loans for US$897.2 million and EUR18.5 million, for US$924.14 million in US$ dollars.
The Economist also forecasts that the debt is rising. It indicates that for 2011, the public debt will have risen to US$19,355.2 million. By then the public debt will have grown from 41.22% of the Gross Domestic Product (2009) to 43.6% of GDP by 2011.
Ruiz says that the Ministry of Hacienda stats report that the debt at US$11.2 billion is 24.3% of the GDP. The Ministry indicates that of this, the foreign debt is US$7.14 billion and has grown 13%, or US$844.5 million, compared to 2006. The domestic debt is estimated in US$4.2 billion. This does not take into account arrears with the electricity sector. The new CDEEE executive vice president Celso Marranzini says the overall debt is US$590 million.
Economist Carlos Asilis told Clave that the levels of debt are a cause for concern. He told the newspaper that the "levels are very close to the ceiling of what the country can bear in the long term." He said that conservatively speaking, the debt could be at 50-55% of GDP. He says that this means that, "the days the Dominican state can continue improvising and applying patches to the Dominican economy will soon be over. He said the government only deals with public finances when its back is against the wall.
"The role of the state in our economy needs to be redefined", he said, "especially with regards to an injection of a high degree of transparency and rationality in public spending, a more proactive approach to the economy and greater economic freedom for the productive sector, by way of less financial repression," he said.
Miguel Ceara Hatton of the United Nations Development Program office said that taking on debt could be good or bad. He said that the country has a serious problem when it comes to the quality of government spending. "There is not enough information about where the money is going," he told the newspaper. He says there is "an institutional framework that does not allow for transparency or accountability." He says that in these circumstances, to go on taking on debt generates many concerns.
For The Economist report, see http://buttonwood.economist.com/content/gdc
More... (http://www.dr1.com/index.html#4)