A total of 700 thousand new beneficiaries in Superate and Bonogas and an increase in the amount of this program
Given the population’s complaints about inflation, President Luis Abinader announced a package of social measures that include 300,000 new beneficiaries of the Supérate program for an amount of 1,650 pesos and an increase from RD$228 to RD$470 to the 937,000 beneficiaries. of the Bond program. This same plan will include 400 thousand new winners.
The measure implies that since the arrival of the Modern Revolutionary Party (PRM) to power, the beneficiaries of the Supérate program (formerly Prosoli) will have doubled in the amount and number of awardees, when the new 300 thousand reported by the ruler are added. By August 16, 2020, Prosoli, which was renamed Supérate, had 807,522 beneficiaries who received 850 pesos and now there are one million 350 thousand and they receive 1,650 pesos.
The president made the announcement during the accountability speech in Congress in which he recognized that inflation is the main problem facing the government at the moment.
“Today, our main concern in economic matters is inflation, which has a very negative effect on the family budget, limits the ability of companies to generate jobs and impacts social programs that protect the most vulnerable,” Abinader acknowledged.
To deal with the situation, the president also announced the expansion of food programs in the Economic Kitchens and the National Price Stabilization Institute (Inespre). “I have arranged a broad program of sales of basic necessities at low prices through Inespre. That institution, which had practically no operations, today has 51 weekly farmers’ markets in each province of the country and we will continue to increase it until we reach the main municipalities. In addition, we have authorized doubling the 50 mobile warehouses in the coming months”, he reported.
In the case of the Economic Kitchens, he reported that they will install 54 new stations in different municipalities to go to 136 thousand daily portions.
Likewise, he announced that he authorized the eMinistry of Industry, Commerce and MiPymes to see if there is an increase in the main raw materials for agriculture, such as wheat, soybeans and corn. 10% increase is assumed.
“We did the same thing a few months ago with urea, the main raw material for fertilizers, with an investment of 1.7 billion pesos to control its price and mitigate the increase in costs in agricultural production,” he said.
Likewise, he cited that this year alone the government has subsidized the sum of 2.6 billion and last year 13 billion. “The government is making budget forecasts and spending control measures to continue subsidizing and prevent the entire increase from being reflected in fuel prices,” he advanced.
The government official explained that in order to comply with these new programs it is necessary to make adjustments and modifications in the budget in view of this special situation of distortion and inflation of all raw materials in the world. “We are going to do everything in our power to mitigate the effects of inflation and protect the well-being of Dominicans,” said the president.
Abinader explains causes of inflation in the country
The government official explained that last year’s inflation of 8.5% is mostly imported. “33.1% of inflation in 2021 is explained by the increase in the prices of regular and premium gasoline, diesel and liquefied gas,” he detailed. He referred that on August 16, 2020, when the government arrived, the price of a barrel of oil was 42 dollars and today it is 92, that is, an increase of 120%. However, this increase fuel prices in the country have increased in a much smaller proportion, specifically 35%, “he said. Likewise, he explained that the increase in the price of approximately 70% of imported inputs for the agricultural industry, such as wheat, corn, soybeans and sorghum, translated into a rise in the prices of mass consumption products.
Inflation was imported between 43.1 and 50%
The government official said that due to the increase in the prices of oil and raw materials, the inflation that was registered in the country was imported between 43.1% and 50%. “Only due to the direct impact on inflation of the aforementioned items, which were affected by the increases in international prices of raw materials, 43.1% of last year’s inflation is explained, without including indirect effects that could well lead to this percentage to a value well above 50%”, argued Abinader. The president was insistent that inflation is not only a problem in the country but that the United States and Europe have the highest inflation in the last 40 years.
