It is important that the government review spending for this year in a supplementary budget and relieve taxpayers of some of the burden that limits their disposable income and impoverishes them in the face of price inflation, Collado Di Franco stated.
Taken from Listín Diario
Dominican economic professionals suggest that the Government implement urgent measures to address imported inflation that is affecting the country's price structure.
Antonio Ciriaco Cruz, Miguel Collado Di Franco, and Luis Manuel Piantini spoke separately about the impact of inflation and the possibility that high prices will persist for longer than expected.
Ciriaco Cruz, vice dean of the Faculty of Economics at UASD, predicts that inflation poses a significant risk to the economy this year. He proposes that fuel subsidies continue during this first quarter and that tariffs on raw materials used by the poultry and pork industries, as well as by rice producers, be reduced.
The economist points out that commodity prices remain very high and the bottleneck persists in supply chains. He also suggests promoting food sales at local markets.
Meanwhile, Collado Di Franco , Senior Economist at the Regional Center for Sustainable Economic Strategies (CREES), recommends that measures be implemented to lower the cost of living and doing business in the Dominican Republic.
Reform fuel prices by deregulating them and lowering taxes; implement Law 63-17 to reduce transportation costs; increase productivity and reform the tax system to lower taxes.
Collado Di Franco also suggests that the Government present a supplementary budget that relieves taxpayers of burdens that limit their income.
In short, it proposes moving towards lower costs, increasing productivity and increasing income from productive activities.
He indicated that , substantially increase monetary policy rates
“Consequently, local authorities must implement measures that reduce internal costs for living and doing business. For example, the long-awaited fuel market reform should reduce taxes and liberalize prices, as is the case in Central American markets where fuel costs less.”.
For the economist, it is necessary to create the conditions to increase productivity through greater investment and lower costs.
“A tax reform that eliminates taxes and simplifies the tax system would serve this purpose. It would allow for greater investment and lower prices, without harming tax revenues,” he stated.
Oil Prices
According to economist Luis Manuel Piantini, among the most dangerous factors for maintaining a high inflation rate this year and next is the high price of energy products, which could be driven by both geopolitical factors and the expansion of the world economy.
It recommends prudent price management due to the potential for upheavals, as it affects all other prices of goods and services in the economy, making it better to target volume to control value.
In the Dominican Republic, he said, on one occasion a restriction was applied to the volume consumed by prohibiting the transit of even and odd license plates on alternate days.
He believes it is necessary, in order to avoid shortages and speculation , that in agricultural production, the member countries of SICA apply joint production and supply policies, to guarantee the food security of the main agricultural consumer goods in the family basket.
He specified that in the country, monetary authorities began to implement restrictive policies since the middle of last year.
Collado Di Franco
It is important that the government review spending for this year in a supplementary budget and relieve taxpayers of some of the burden that limits their disposable income and impoverishes them in the face of price inflation.
Ciriaco Cruz
Everything seems to indicate that January's inflation will be close to 1%, due to the factors causing inflation persisting in international markets.
Piantini.
Commodity prices are quoted in dollars and oil increased by 112% between 2020 and January 2022.
