Economy Minister This week government will decide on further opening the economy
The Ministry of Economy says that the postponement of the third phase of the reopening would delay around 113,000 persons returning to work, as reported in El Nacional. Economy Minister Juan Ariel Jiménez says that sports activities cannot be restarted and churches can only hold services once a week. Phase 3 had contemplated services three times a wee
Jiménez says the government is not yet postponing the opening of the tourism sectors, scheduled for 1 July. He said the reopening of hotels, restaurants, and airports still depends on what the statistics reflect on the reopening of the economy so far. The government would reach a decision this coming week. He made the point that resorts in the Dominican Republic have a major advantage: they are low density and have natural ventilation, which reduces the spread of the virus.
Jiménez says next week is critical to deciding whether Phase 3 and Phase 4 can be implemented. He said the authorities will take action to find more cases in Greater Santo Domingo, where most cases have been detected and most testing has been carried out. N Digital reports that journalists that cover the Ministry of Public Health activities were not able to find out where the interventions would take place.
Jimenez said that the depreciation of the Dominican peso to the dollar (currently the exchange rate is 58.13 pesos per dollar), reflects the shutdown of the tourism industry, declines in free zone manufacturing contracting, low remittances and exports, along with a decline in foreign direct investment.
He stated that the country’s situation was not more critical because the country’s international reserves were equal to 10% of the Gross Domestic Product when the Covid-19 situation arose. He said this has allowed the Central Bank to make timely interventions in the foreign exchange market.
Source: DR1, El Nacional
June 20, 2020
Category: DR News |