The race for public debt did not pause in the year that ends today, as in the first two years of government, the current administration dedicated itself to exceeding in quantity what had been taken by previous leaders.
This 2023, the National Congress, both on the side of the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate, approved debts exceeding US$2,355,126,411 million, divided into more than a dozen approvals, some of these up to a package of six, three and two per session in which they were subjected. These approvals did not have major objections in the Lower and Upper Houses, since the Modern Revolutionary Party (PRM) maintains on its legislative payroll the largest number of legislators from the first Branch of the State.
Approved loan estimates are for exclusive use in:
– Maintenance of road infrastructure
– Construction of new works
– Aid to the population through social plans
– Mobility projects
– Social Security
– Creation of new jobs
– Tourism sector
– Disaster risk management
– National Housing Program
– Social protection
– Electricity sector reform
– Modernization of the drinking water system
– Construction of Metro Line 2C, expansion of Line 1
– Construction of the Los Alcarrizos and Santiago Cable Cars
– Monte Grande Dam
In addition to these areas, others are assumed to have a great impact on the development of the Dominican Republic. These loans that aggravate the debt of Dominicans were taken from four international organizations, under the umbrella of nations such as Japan, France and the United States.
The debt each year exceeds the previous one. As reflected by the General Directorate of Public Credit through its web portal, the public debt, which in 2020 was US$44,622.3 as of November 2023, is US$55,017.9, that is, an amount that is distant from each other. Furthermore, the Chamber of Deputies’ own Legislative Information System indicates that the entities with the most approved funds in the Dominican Republic are the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD), both with headquarters and main capital in the United States.
In no less than a year, the IDB lent the country the sum of 708,000,000 million dollars, while the IBRD delivered 1,330,000,000 million dollars.
In the case of Japan and France, the direct entities that benefited were the Japanese International Cooperation Agency, with an amount of 3,888,000,000 million yen, which is equivalent to 36,000,000 million dollars; Likewise, the French Development Agency with loans exceeding 281,126,411 million dollars. But the year did not end peacefully, on its last day of the legislative session, the Chamber of Deputies approved placing public debt securities for an amount that exceeds RD$344 billion.
Legislators from the opposition party benches (PLD, PRD, Democratic Option) have denounced, from the first day of the government administration headed by President Luis Abinader, the insistent race of loans taken to invest in works that, according to them, compared to others Government efforts cannot be perceived in the communities.
The debt history of the last four presidents has been notorious in the competition for loans, starting with Hipólito Mejía (2000-2004), followed by Leonel Fernández (2008-2012), Danilo Medina (2012-2020) and Luis Abinader, who “Long before completing his presidential term, he exceeded the figure of US$6.5 billion in mortgages.”
2023-12-31 22:43:33
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