SANTO DOMINGO. -With an execution of RD$5,783 million, the housing and community services line item represented the second item in which the Government allocated resources in the period January-July of this year, according to the report of the Ministry of Economy, Planning and Development (MEPyD).
According to the publication, the largest amount of resources allocated to Public Investment Projects (PIP) was directed to the Transportation function, with an amount of RD$8,887 million, or 32.8% of the total execution.
Resources allocated to Housing and Community Services accounted for 21.3% of the total expenditure. These two areas together represented 54.1% of the total amount spent in the first half of the year, while air, water, and soil protection ranked third with an expenditure of RD$3,083 million, or 11.4% of the total.
The Ministry of Economy, Planning and Development (MEPyD) reported that the financial execution of public investment projects was RD$27,131.2 million in the first half of 2022, which represents an increase of 138.2% compared to 2021, and is around the historical average executed from 2017 to 2022, according to information published by Listín Diario.
The information is contained in the Public Investment Accountability Report January-June 2022, which specifies that when analyzing the execution with respect to what was programmed for the year, it is observed that the percentage for the first half of 2022 was 35.1%, higher than in 2021, in which 12.8% of the programmed amount was executed, the information assures.
“In the first half of 2022, investments made amounted to 0.9% of the year's GDP, which doubled the execution of the same period in 2021,” the report from the General Directorate of Public Investment (DGIP) indicates.
Other sectors that had significant project execution were Education and Irrigation, with respective amounts of RD$1,984 million and RD$1,698 million.
According to the analysis, the Ministry of Public Works and Communications (MOPC) leads the distribution of total project execution among implementing institutions with RD$7,009.2 million (25.8% of total execution), followed by the Ministry of Housing and Buildings (MIVED) with 18.8% and the National Institute of Drinking Water and Sewerage (INAPA) with 12.9%. These three institutions account for 57.6% of total execution in 2022.
Public investment in the territory
The report states that of the RD$27,131.2 million executed in the first half of 2022, some RD$6,894.1 million (25.4% of the total execution) were allocated to the province of Santo Domingo.
In that order, the National District is the second province that presented the highest amount of public investment, with RD$1,881.5 million (6.93% of the total execution).
However, it indicates that there are projects that have a territorial scope beyond a single province; in this sense, around RD$3,996 million (14.7% of the total) were executed in projects of provincial scope.
“Although there is evidence of a concentration of public investment in provinces with a larger urban population such as Greater Santo Domingo and Santiago, it is necessary to accompany this analysis with the public investment projects per capita of the provinces in question,” the document states.
From this point of view, the report points out that the provinces where the greatest resources are concentrated in per capita terms are Independencia, with RD$10,459 per inhabitant of the area; El Seibo with RD$8,978 per inhabitant and Hato Mayor with RD$7,029 per capita.
Similarly, it argues that the provinces in the Border Zone have significantly higher levels of public investment per capita than the others.
The Accountability Report specifies that the largest public investment project executed between January and June 2022 was the construction of Line 2C of the Santo Domingo Metro, Alcarrizos-Luperón section; executed by the Office for the Reorganization of Transportation (OPRET) with an investment of RD$1,706.7 million, representing 5.8% of the total project cost. This project is expected to be completed in 2024.
The Ministry of Economy document states that, on the other hand, the construction of the Monte Grande Dam in the province of Azua is the most expensive project included in the January-June 2022 program. It indicates that for this first semester, a total of RD$1,405 million was programmed, of which 82% was executed.
Physical and financial monitoring
The physical and financial monitoring system for public investment projects being implemented by the Ministry of Economy, Planning and Development stands out, with the aim of carrying out analyses that allow evaluating the performance of investments, as well as their degree of compliance.
In that respect, he points out that during the first half of 2022, the physical monitoring of the execution of public investment projects formally began, supported by the Regional Offices of the Ministry of Economy in the different regions of the national territory, as well as by the technicians of the General Directorate of Public Investment.
According to the report, three project monitoring meetings have been held to analyze the execution of public investment projects in more detail, detect obstacles or impediments that may hinder execution, and discuss mechanisms to expedite it.
It notes that the follow-up meetings held during the first half of 2022 were conducted with the National Institute of Hydraulic Resources (INDRHI), the General Directorate of Strategic and Special Projects of the Presidency (PROPEEP) and the institutions that carry out the projects of the electricity sector.
