DR debt is ranked in bottom third in Latin America
The Dominican Republic is ranked 13th of 18 Latin American countries with the most debt, according to the World Bank. Only Panama, Peru, Chile, Guatemala and Paraguay are listed with lower debt percentage. The Dominican Republic is listed by the World Bank with a ratio of debt to GDP of 39.8%.
As reported in Diario Libre, Alessandro Legrottaglie, representative of the World Bank for the Dominican Republic, says that the debt level of the country “is one of the lowest in all the region.” He said the level is sustainable and “is not a problem for the Dominican Republic.”
The non-financial public sector debt was at 50.4% at the close of 2018, according to the Ministry of Hacienda (Treasury).
Diario Libre reports citing Ministry of Hacienda data that the servicing of the non-financial public sector debt was US$1.7 billion in the first quarter of 2019, or US$64 million more than for the same period last year.
As of 31 March 2019, the nonfinancial public sector (NFPS) external and domestic debt totaled US$32,733.0 million, according to the Ministry of Hacienda. This amount represents 39.0% of the estimated GDP.
According to the Ministry, 65.4% of the NFPS total debt corresponds to external debt, which presented a balance of US$21,417.8 million, while the remaining 34.6% corresponds to domestic debt, which totaled RD$570,847.7 million, equivalent to US$11,315.3 million at the exchange rate of RD$/US$=50.4493. These amounts represent 25.5% and 13.5% of the estimated GDP, respectively. Of the total domestic debt, US$2,623.7 million (3.1% of GDP) corresponds to intra-governmental bonds debt issued by the Central Government for the recapitalization of the Central Bank of the Dominican Republic. The intra-governmental debt is debt contracted by one government institution with another.
Legrottaglie made the statements when visiting the president of the Chamber of Deputies, Radhamés Camacho. The meetings coincided with the visit of Gabriel Goldschmidt, regional director for the International Finance Corporation (IFC), a sister organization to the World Bank. The World Bank has said it has US$500 million to lend for infrastructure and business projects in the Dominican Republic over the next four years.
Source: DR1, DiarioLibre
May 10, 2019
Category: DR News |