SANTO DOMINGO.- Decent, quality housing and mortgage financing from the National Housing Program are part of the US$1.8 billion investment agenda that the World Bank will finance over five years for development projects in the Dominican Republic.
Economy Minister Miguel Ceara Hatton reported that the plan also includes mobilizing financing for infrastructure and underserved groups, with an emphasis on female-headed households, increasing loans to women, small and medium-sized enterprises, incentivizing public-private projects and facilitating green financing.
The World Bank and the Ministry of Economy, Planning and Development (MEPyD) presented last Monday the new Country Partnership Framework (CPF), the WB's strategy that defines support for the development priorities of the Dominican nation for the next five years.
The financing program is designed to address fundamental aspects of the development of the country's localities, through the restructuring of electricity, water, housing, health, social protection and the environment.
The World Bank Group will channel this support through financial resources, non-reimbursable technical assistance, and donations, the Ministry of Economy, Planning and Development (MEPyD) reported. The initiative was developed in coordination with the National Development Strategy 2030, the Multi-Year Public Sector Plan, and the Sustainable Development Goals.
The program aims to improve access to quality public services, thereby alleviating fiscal burdens and public spending, supporting reforms in the electricity sector for greater efficiency, and increasing the coverage and quality of health and social protection networks.
Furthermore, it aims to generate more jobs by improving the quality of education and job training; strengthen the investment climate; and increase and diversify trade markets.
Hatton acknowledged the World Bank's support in achieving the goals of improving people's quality of life. "This institution has a broad agenda of development and investment issues in sectors that are currently priorities, such as water, recovery, and the electricity sector, all of which are included in the new Country Partnership Framework," he said
The World Bank will focus on mobilizing private capital through public-private partnerships to leverage investment needs, while the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency will continue to focus on mitigating risks to stimulate private investment and improve the investment climate.
