Valdez Albizu highlighted that forecasts for the external sector indicate that foreign direct investment flows would reach US$3.8 billion by the end of 2022.
SANTO DOMINGO.-The Governor of the Central Bank (BCRD), Héctor Valdez Albizu, received the mission of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), headed by Emilio Fernández-Corugedo, the new head of mission, which is in the country to carry out a 'Staff Visit', to which he offered a comprehensive report on the performance of the Dominican economy and its forecasts for the end of 2022.
Valdez Albizu highlighted in his presentation the results obtained in the economic sphere, such as the average year-on-year growth of 5.4% in the January-September period, noting that the Central Bank's forecasting system indicates that real gross domestic product (GDP) growth would be in the range of 5.0%-5.5% for the year 2022, that is, around the potential pace of the economy.
He also indicated that inflation stood at 8.63% year-on-year in September, a reduction of 100 basis points from the peak of 9.64% reached in April of this year.
To complement the elements that show a downward trend in this index, he stated that the BCRD's projection models forecast that inflation would end 2022 at around 7.0% and continue to decrease year-on-year in the following months, converging to the target range of 4.0%± 1.0% in the first half of 2023.
Valdez Albizu highlighted that forecasts for the external sector indicate that foreign direct investment flows would reach US$3.8 billion by the end of 2022.
In his report, Valdez Albizu also noted that international reserves remain close to US$14 billion as of September 2022, equivalent to 12.3% of GDP and 5.7 months of imports.
Representative
Emilio Fernández-Corugedo, on behalf of the IMF, congratulated the Central Bank on its 75th anniversary. He also highlighted the high regard the international organization has for the growth achieved this year and its projections, as well as the sound implementation of monetary policy, which positions the Dominican Republic as one of the countries with the best outlook in Latin America.
Valdez Albizu considered legal certainty, a climate of social peace, confidence, and the special treatment the Dominican Republic provides to foreign investment to be essential to these results. The IMF expressed its full willingness to contribute to the Dominican Republic's continued progress.
The IMF delegation included, in addition to Fernández-Corugedo, Pamela Madrid, Nicolás Fernández-Arias, Mario Mansilla, Hassan Adan and Dirk Jan Grolleman.
Governor Valdez Albizu was accompanied by the manager, Ervin Novas Bello; the deputy general manager, Frank Montaño; the deputy manager of Monetary, Exchange and Financial Policies, Joel Tejeda; the deputy manager of National Accounts, Ramón González; the economic advisor to the Governor, Julio Andújar; and the Dominican representative to the IMF, Frank Fuentes.
Also present were the directors Joel González, of Monetary Programming; Elina Rosario, of National Accounts; Máximo Rodríguez, of Regulation and Financial Stability; Brenda Villanueva, of International; and José Gabriel Perdomo, of Treasury.
