Business wants IMF back

Tue, 9 Sep 2008 00:00:00 GMT

Spokesmen for leading business organizations want the International Monetary Fund back to monitor the Dominican economy and government handing of its finances. "We cannot go at it alone," said Pedro Perez, spokesman for the National Organization of Shopping Malls (ONEC).

"It is sad to see the government hiring bonanza, with an incredible number of deputy ministers," said Perez. "I do not know how we are going to fund the government payroll. We are talking about 20 deputy ministers in Agriculture, 12 in Youth, an increase from 7 to 12 in Education. Many of these without a desk and probably without any tasks," he complained.

Ignacio Mendez of the Federation of Industrial Associations (FAI) urged the government to sign a new agreement due to the balance of payment deficit and government overspending problems that affect the country and what he deemed as a loss of confidence in the government by economic sectors. "We need a guardian to manage the public finances with efficiency," said the business sector spokesman. He said that after achieving a fiscal surplus of RD$4 billion in 2006 and RD$5 billion in 2007 (years in which the IMF Stand-by arrangement was in effect), the government submitted the 2008 budget with a RD$10 billion deficit, which has since climbed to RD$34 billion. In the first half of 2008, the government increased spending by 34.6%.

"Confidence was what led to the miraculous recovery in 2004. It is sad to see how the government's initiatives have led to a loss of credibility and how politicians do all they can to undermine confidence," he said, as reported in Hoy.

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Business wants IMF back