The economy is expected to grow by around 2.5% in 2025, in line with the Latin American average, returning to a range between 4.0% and 5.0% close to its potential by 2026.
SANTO DOMINGO.- The governor of the Central Bank of the Dominican Republic (BCRD), Héctor Valdez Albizu, predicted yesterday that foreign direct investment will exceed US$4 billion for the fourth consecutive year, reaching more than US$4.8 billion in 2025.
Valdez Albizu delivered the main speech at the commemorative event for 78th anniversary , where he presented an overview of the performance of the Dominican Republic's economy during 2025, its forecasts for the end of the year, and future projections.
He said that in terms of foreign exchange generation, “the Dominican economy would reach an amount of around US$46 billion , mainly from exports of about US$14.9 billion, tourism revenue of US$11.2 billion, and remittances of about US$11.7 billion. Additionally, foreign direct investment (FDI) would exceed US$4 billion for the fourth consecutive year, reaching more than US$4.8 billion in 2025, enough to cover a current account deficit that would be 2.5% of GDP.”
The governor anticipated that "the economy will show greater dynamism in an environment of price stability, as long as monetary policy continues to operate and public investment within a framework of coordination between monetary and fiscal policies."
He recalled that “for this year, the Minister of Finance and Economy, Magín Díaz, announced, based on the revised budget, an increase in capital spending to 2.7% of GDP. With this action and the implementation of a more flexible monetary policy, the economy is expected to grow by around 2.5% in 2025, in line with the Latin American average, returning to a range between 4.0% and 5.0%, close to its potential, by 2026.”
Furthermore, “inflation would remain within the target range of 4.0% ± 1.0% in 2025 and 2026, providing the space for the Central Bank to continue adopting timely measures for economic recovery,” he stated.
The governor highlighted that “the main indicators of the financial system reflect efficient management, with high levels of capitalization, liquidity, and solvency. As of the end of September, the financial system's assets 11.5% and equity increased by 10.2%. Return on equity (ROE) was 21.7% and return on assets (ROA) was 2.6%, while the non-performing loan ratio stood at 1.9%. Regulatory solvency reached 18.4% in June, above the minimum requirement of 10%, according to the most recent figures published by the Superintendency of Banks.”
He also added that “in terms of payment systems, access to and use of electronic payment services continues to grow, registering a daily average of 3.3 million transactions so far in 2025. Furthermore, the Central Bank’s real-time gross settlement system has processed 33.2 million transactions as of September, 30% more than the previous year.
Valdez Albizu noted that “after keeping its monetary policy rate unchanged in the first eight months of the year, the Central Bank of the Dominican Republic (BCRD) decided to reduce it by 25 basis points, placing it at 5.50% annually, with the aim of supporting the recovery of domestic demand in a low inflation environment.”.
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He also indicated that “the Monetary Board approved a liquidity provision program of RD$81 billion, of which RD$66 billion has been disbursed, facilitating access to credit for businesses and households. Macroprudential measures were also adopted to strengthen financial stability in the face of high market volatility.”.
Valdez Albizu highlighted that “the measures implemented by the Monetary Board increased liquidity in the financial system, favoring a reduction in interest rates , placing the weighted average deposit rate of multiple banks at 6.6% so far in October 2025, below the 10.3% of October 2024. The active rate, meanwhile, decreased from 15.3% to 13.9% in the same period, indicating that the monetary policy transmission mechanism continues to function. Private loans in national currency grew by around 9.0% year-on-year, above nominal gross domestic product growth.”
In a context of price stability, he specified that “inflation has remained within the target range of 4.0% ± 1.0% for the past 29 months, reaching 3.76% year-on-year in September, one of the lowest rates among non-dollarized economies in Latin America. At the same time, core inflation—which better reflects monetary conditions—stood at 4.35% year-on-year. Inflation expectations remain anchored to the target, demonstrating the confidence of economic agents in monetary policy.”
Valdez Albizu highlighted that “despite the adverse conditions prevailing in the international arena, the real gross domestic product (GDP) accumulated growth of 2.2% in January-September 2025, similar to the performance the region is expected to exhibit by the end of this year. The Dominican economy is expected to gradually return to its potential growth in the coming quarters, as global uncertainty dissipates, private investment is reactivated, and public sector capital spending increases.”.
The governor identified that “the sectors that explained the year-on-year growth in January-September were primarily agriculture (3.9%), mining and quarrying (3.7%), financial services (7.4%), and hotels, bars, and restaurants (3.3%). In particular, tourism activity was driven by 6.6 million air arrivals in January-September. Including the 2 million cruise ship passengers who arrived by sea, the country received 8.6 million visitors during that period, a year-on-year increase of 2.7%. Local manufacturing grew by 1.7%, and manufacturing in free trade zones grew by 1.8%.”.
