NewsWhore
11-25-2009, 04:10 PM
As legislators prepare to discuss the 2010 budget, El Caribe journalist Hector Linares points out that the Dominican budget is always on a path of continuous growth. According to the writer, the DR budget will grow ten-fold between 2010 and 2020. And if the budget of 1990 is any indication, by 2020 the DR's budget will have grown 63-fold. Between 1990 and 1996, increases in the budget were slight, but since 1996 budget balloons have been more pronounced. The 1990 budget was for RD$6.7 billion, by 1996 it had grown to RD$24.7 billion, in 1997 it was RD$33 billion, while the 2010 budget is expected to be at RD$263 billion, according to El Caribe. While the government has been more efficient in generating revenue, especially through improved tax collections, a growing culture of clientelism, unrestrained public sector employment and benefits for government employees are prevalent in the use of revenues. Despite the bonanza in revenues, problems in key areas such as electricity, security, education and medical services have not seen improvements to reflect the amount of increased revenues the government has been handling.
More... (http://www.dr1.com/index.html#2)
More... (http://www.dr1.com/index.html#2)