NewsWhore
02-15-2007, 03:21 PM
The IMF has agreed on the letter of intent regarding the fifth and sixth reviews of the Stand-by Arrangement with the DR. The agreement received the full support of the IMF board of directors, including the United States representative. The approval extends the agreement until 2008 and will guarantee a disbursal of US$57 million to the country this month, out of the US$290 million worth of credits still remaining under the agreement.
Franco Uccelli of Bear Stearns reports that the disbursements would be used to further strengthen the country's international reserve position. He indicates that the Letter of Intent's key macroeconomic forecasts for 2007 include real GDP growth of 6%, inflation of between 4%-6%, a quasi-fiscal deficit of 2.3% of GDP, a non-financial public sector surplus of 0.5% of GDP, a current account deficit of between 1.8%-2.3% of GDP and a reduction in subsidies to the electricity sector from 2006's US$530 million to no more than US$400 million this year.
"Given the country's strong economic momentum, we view the government's projections as reasonable and attainable," writes Uccelli. "Encouraged by the Dominican Republic's positive results for 2006, which included economic growth of 10.4% and inflation of only 5%, and by its sound prospects for this year, we recently upgraded our recommendation on its bonds to outperform", he reports.
More... (http://www.dr1.com/index.html#2)
Franco Uccelli of Bear Stearns reports that the disbursements would be used to further strengthen the country's international reserve position. He indicates that the Letter of Intent's key macroeconomic forecasts for 2007 include real GDP growth of 6%, inflation of between 4%-6%, a quasi-fiscal deficit of 2.3% of GDP, a non-financial public sector surplus of 0.5% of GDP, a current account deficit of between 1.8%-2.3% of GDP and a reduction in subsidies to the electricity sector from 2006's US$530 million to no more than US$400 million this year.
"Given the country's strong economic momentum, we view the government's projections as reasonable and attainable," writes Uccelli. "Encouraged by the Dominican Republic's positive results for 2006, which included economic growth of 10.4% and inflation of only 5%, and by its sound prospects for this year, we recently upgraded our recommendation on its bonds to outperform", he reports.
More... (http://www.dr1.com/index.html#2)