Central Bank to seek extension with IMF

[NewsWhore]

The governor of the Central Bank announced yesterday that he would advise President Leonel Fernandez on the desirability of negotiating a six-month extension of the Stand-by Arrangement with restricted disbursements with the IMF. Hector Valdez Albizu said that an extension of the agreement, which is due to conclude next February, would create an atmosphere of greater credibility between the economic agents. According to Valdez Albizu, the IMF is not in the country reviewing the seventh and eighth revisions of the Stand-by accord, adding that there was no crisis in the Dominican economy. He said that the extension of the agreement for six additional months would provide "certainty, credibility and a normal handling of the election process." He acknowledged that he would be heavily criticized for this position, but that is what he and his advisors at the Central Bank think. He referred to the pending US$500 million that is to be disbursed by the end of February. He said he talked to an IMF official and told him "to keep that money and if we find ourselves in an unmanageable situation, then we will take it."

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