NewsWhore
08-17-2007, 03:30 PM
Clave newspaper also focuses on the achievements and challenges ahead for the Fernandez administration as it enters its fourth year. Journalist Edwin Ruiz points out that on the positive side there is price stability and an impressive level of economic growth. A comparison between the first quarter of 2005 and the same period in 2007 shows an accumulated 21% growth. Inflation has been kept in single-digits, with a 5% rate in 2006. The peso has appreciated 22% in relation to the US dollar. In this way, President Leonel Fernandez was able to fulfill his promise of recovering stability and the road to growth.
Joel Santos, president of the National Association of Young Entrepreneurs, highlights these positive macroeconomic achievements, stressing that there is renewed confidence in the country, stability in the financial system, a decline in interest rates and economic growth.
But there are many shadows. Santos says that the government maintains an anti-exporter bias, reflected in their decision to anchor the exchange rate to one that is lower than that which would be in effect if the peso were allowed to float. He said this has contributed to the loss of 50,000 jobs in free zone industries.
Economy Minister Temistocles Montas told the newspaper that the Dominican economy is growing faster than the regional average - 7.3% compared to 5.1%.
Clave newspaper points out however that the positive effects of growth are not being felt by 71% of the population, which rated the economic situation as bad or very bad in a recent Gallup poll. This perception contrasts with reports from the Central Bank that say the government has created 345,000 new jobs, and that the unemployment rate has declined from 19.7% in October 2004 to 15.6% in April 2007.
"We are better off than in 2003, but worse off than in 2000," said economist Ayacx Mercedes, a member of the team that prepared the United Nations Human Development Report in 2005. "The economic situation has improved, but not enough." He pointed out that unemployment is more than the 13.9% rate for 2000. He said that 36.3% of Dominicans live in poverty, higher than the 26.8% who were living in poverty in April 2002.
Mercedes points out that there is not a direct correlation between economic growth, quality of jobs and the welfare of the population. "The gap between the rich and poor is just getting wider with economic growth".
More... (http://www.dr1.com/index.html#5)
Joel Santos, president of the National Association of Young Entrepreneurs, highlights these positive macroeconomic achievements, stressing that there is renewed confidence in the country, stability in the financial system, a decline in interest rates and economic growth.
But there are many shadows. Santos says that the government maintains an anti-exporter bias, reflected in their decision to anchor the exchange rate to one that is lower than that which would be in effect if the peso were allowed to float. He said this has contributed to the loss of 50,000 jobs in free zone industries.
Economy Minister Temistocles Montas told the newspaper that the Dominican economy is growing faster than the regional average - 7.3% compared to 5.1%.
Clave newspaper points out however that the positive effects of growth are not being felt by 71% of the population, which rated the economic situation as bad or very bad in a recent Gallup poll. This perception contrasts with reports from the Central Bank that say the government has created 345,000 new jobs, and that the unemployment rate has declined from 19.7% in October 2004 to 15.6% in April 2007.
"We are better off than in 2003, but worse off than in 2000," said economist Ayacx Mercedes, a member of the team that prepared the United Nations Human Development Report in 2005. "The economic situation has improved, but not enough." He pointed out that unemployment is more than the 13.9% rate for 2000. He said that 36.3% of Dominicans live in poverty, higher than the 26.8% who were living in poverty in April 2002.
Mercedes points out that there is not a direct correlation between economic growth, quality of jobs and the welfare of the population. "The gap between the rich and poor is just getting wider with economic growth".
More... (http://www.dr1.com/index.html#5)