Bancamérica calls for tender for loan portfolio; proposals to discuss tax reform to take effect in August 2024; Dominican public debt decreased to 62.7% of gross domestic product in 2021; Texas oil barrel surpasses $90; the 12 trusts already in operation; the country received US$33.6 million less in remittances this January than in 2021; Santo Domingo Chamber of Commerce and Superintendency of Banks agree to exchange information; who and how will the new DGII regulation on tax payments affect?; dollarization, a bittersweet solution for the Latin American economy; goodbye to the Churchill 'conchos'; vaccination for children aged 5 to 11 begins today; Juan Luis Guerra: amidst sea, palm trees, songs, rain, and applause.
Bancamérica portfolio tender announced
The Superintendency of Banks (SB) is calling for a public tender for the sale of assets and transfer of liabilities of Banco Múltiple de Las Américas (Bancamérica), which is in the process of being dissolved after its intervention on February 2nd.
In a notice published in print media, the entity invites interested financial intermediaries to submit a written communication to the SB no later than Monday, February 21, at 4:30 p.m. From that date onward, they will receive further information on how to complete the process. Offers must be submitted to the SB headquarters by February 25.
It is specified that as of January 31 of this year, Bancamérica has assets worth RD$2,403,116,378 and liabilities amounting to RD$2,958,334,555
It proposes that a tax reform be discussed so that it can come into effect in August 2024
The Economic Advisor to the Executive Branch considered that debt is a crucial issue for the future of the economy, because it generates a dynamic that ultimately requires tax reform.
Pedro Silverio said that this tax reform has been postponed for understandable reasons, because the conditions in the economy were not suitable for its implementation, as both production and consumption were severely affected by the health crisis.
Dominican public debt decreased to 62.7% of gross domestic product in 2021
As the government anticipated, official data shows that consolidated public debt decreased at the end of 2021 with respect to gross domestic product (GDP), falling from 69.1% in 2020 to 62.7%.
However, in figures, according to data published last week by the General Directorate of Public Credit, consolidated debt—which includes the debt of the non-financial public sector and the Central Bank—closed at US$59,201.6 million, its highest historical value, although it represents less in terms of percentage of GDP . In 2020, that debt closed at US$54,469.3 million.
Texas oil barrel surpasses $90
The price of West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil has been trading since last Friday with a sharp increase of 3.6% and stood at $93.10 after the market's reaction to expectations expressed by Washington that Russia will invade Ukraine in the coming days.
According to data at the close of trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange (Nymex), WTI futures contracts for March delivery added $3.22 compared to the close of the previous session.
US oil rose above $90 on Friday and surged after White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan said there is “a distinct possibility” that Russia will attack Ukraine before the conclusion of the Winter Olympics in Beijing.
The 12 trusts that are already operating
The trust is not a new legal instrument in the Dominican Republic; it has been in effect since 2011, following the enactment of Law 189-11 for the Development of the Mortgage Market and Trusts in the Dominican Republic, during the government of Leonel Fernández, and was initiated nine years ago, in 2013, during the government of Danilo Medina .
So far, 22 public trusts have been created during this period, although only 12 have become operational, and of those, six were established during the administration of the Dominican Liberation Party (PLD). In none of these cases has the privatization of state assets transferred to the trusts occurred.
The country received US$33.6 million less in remittances this January than in 2021
Remittances received in January of this year were 4.2% less than last year, falling from US$792.8 million to US$759.3 million, according to statistics presented by the Central Bank in a note sent to the media.
Despite this drop in remittance flows this year, the Central Bank reported that shipments exceeded the figures recorded in 2020 and 2019, by US$172.4 million and US$222.2 million respectively, periods in which there were no aid schemes that were implemented after March 2020 and ended in September 2021.
The Santo Domingo Chamber of Commerce and the Superintendency of Banks agree to exchange information
The Santo Domingo Chamber of Commerce and the Superintendency of Banks (SB) signed an inter-institutional cooperation agreement, with the objective of facilitating the agile exchange of information, and establishes allowing the SB access to information from the Commercial Registry system .
Similarly, the agreement will allow the Santo Domingo Chamber to access information on the loan portfolio by economic purpose and loans by currency and purpose, provided that there is no legal or confidentiality impediment.
¿Who will be affected and how will the new DGII regulation on tax payments be affected?
The publication of regulation 04-2022 by the General Directorate of Internal Taxes (DGII) has created much confusion because some believe it implies new rates and taxes, but this is not the case. What will happen is that from now on, taxpayers will pay what they owe.
First of all, we must clarify that this will only affect people who are covered by the Simplified Tax Regime (RST), a simplified system for those who report their income and pay their taxes every year.
Dollarization, a bittersweet solution for the Latin American economy
Replacing the local currency with the dollar as a method of payment or a price-setting instrument has been a practice used by several Latin American countries, with mixed results, depending on the economic and financial profile and the nature of the crisis that prompted the measure, according to experiences gathered by Efe for a regional overview on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the end of the exchange rate parity in Argentina.
There, it was known as the "one-to-one": if you had one peso, you had one dollar. Hyperinflation was terrifying people in the streets, and Domingo Cavallo, the Minister of Economy at the time, in 1991, found the antidote to the crisis.
It was called the Convertibility Plan, and its success depended on the state backing the dollars circulating from hand to hand with reserves. While inflation fell from 1,344% to 25% during the first year, time proved, eleven years later, that establishing a currency peg with the US dollar to stabilize the country's volatile economy was a placebo.
Goodbye to the Churchill 'conchos'
The new bus corridor on Winston Churchill Avenue will change the lifestyle of more than 300 public car drivers known as "conchos," who as of yesterday, Sunday, became professional drivers, while 51 drivers over 65 years of age, and 13 with special health conditions, will move to the pension system.
The corridor inaugurated yesterday by President Luis Abinader will begin in Perantuen, on Jacobo Majluta Avenue, and will travel along República de Colombia Avenue, Jardines de Fontainebleau Avenue, John F. Kennedy Avenue, and will conclude its route south of Enrique Jiménez Moya Avenue in the Centro de los Héroes with a total of 64 stops for RD$35.
The payment method for using this transport will also be very different from that of public cars, as the 47 buses of 90 passengers each on this corridor will allow users to choose to pay with credit cards, debit cards and other electronic means.
Today, vaccination begins for children aged 5 to 11
one million children aged 5 to 11 begins through educational centers with the authorization of their parents.
The Ministry of Public Health has reported that children will receive the Chinese Sinovac 0.5 vaccine , as it is an attenuated virus, a classic and typical way in which the vaccine is administered to that population segment.
Juan Luis Guerra: Between sea, palm trees, songs, rain and applause
A downpour began just as Juan Luis Guerra finished his concert. Nature had already decided to ruin the opening night of his residency at the Hard Rock Hotel, as it had done on Saturday, February 5th. Moments earlier, a crowd had warmed up to the rhythms of merengue, bachata, salsa, son, and pambiche.
The merengue song "Rosalía" kicked off the "Entre mar y palmeras" concert at 9:20 p.m. on Saturday at the Hard Rock golf course, where the dreaded threat of rain was ever-present and even a light and fleeting drizzle was recorded, but this time the sky also opened up so that the Dominican music star could shine in her homeland.
