Exchange houses claim discrimination

The placement of dollars channeled through financial institutions and without the participation of the currency exchange agencies that act within the market constitutes a privilege by the Central Bank that favors one sector in prejudice of another.

This is the opinion of Augusto Peignand, the president of the Dominican Association of Money Exchangers (Adocambio), as he questioned the fact that the monetary authorities did not take the exchange houses in to account for the latest injection of dollars that was announced by the Central Bank and that was said to be between US$50 million and US$100 million.

Peignand said, "We were not involved and we do not know why; we barely knew of the injection through the press, when we understand that we should all be called in." Peignand said he was trying to get the Central Bank to explain why the exchange houses had been excluded from the distribution of the dollars. He said he felt that as a part of the regulated agencies in the market, they should have been allowed to participate on an equal basis with the financial institutions in order for the sale of dollars to be more equitable, especially if this were to be done based on the amounts handled by each sector.

Some economists questioned by Diario Libre reporters on this issue said they also understood that with the opening of all of the sectors dollars could be sold at better prices and as a result, the authorities obtain greater profits.

Legislator and president of "Comercializadora de Capitales" currency exchange company Alberto Atallah indicated that they were not convened despite the fact that new injections of dollars have always been an open matter. He said, "I understand that when the injection-of dollars-is made in an open way, there is a greater effect because it is not the same thing when you reach 30 intermediaries and they reach a much greater group of clients in medium-sized operations. This, logically, creates a greater impact, because people see that there is a flow of money, and you can put a halt to what could be, not speculation, but rather expectations."

Echoing Atallah's statement, another six representatives from the exchange sector said that they had not been informed about the injection of dollars and they wondered why the Central Bank had excluded them. Although Diario Libre tried to get an explanation from the Central Bank, as of yesterday it was not forthcoming. The economist and member of the PRD party's policy commission, Andres Dauhajre, emphasized the discretional powers that the monetary authorities have over the process of injecting dollars, although he understands that the ideal thing would be equal distribution across the entire sector.

When he was questioned about the way that the monetary interventions were carried out, he answered, "What is perceived is that the Central Bank uses an inefficient mechanism that loses them money." He explained the "we are dealing with placing dollars at a below-market rate and when the Central Bank purchases dollars, they do it more expensively, and this difference generates a loss in the exchange of money for the Central Bank."

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