Chile and the Dominican Republictwo Latin American democracies With different trajectories but common economic challenges, they show contrasting realities in the matter of indebtedness. Although the South American country was considered for decades a model to follow in the region, the distribution of wealth and inequality remain pending tasks, as in Dominican territory.
In the Chilean case, the Central Bank reported that the external debt reached the 260,000 million dollars At the end of June, equivalent to 75 % of the gross domestic product (GDP). The EFE agency highlighted the report of the Chilean monetary institution on Monday
The increase was driven by Government transactions (+2,771 million dollars) and Banking sector (+2,724 million). To this was added the increase in the commitments of companies and foreign investment entities (+698 million) and other companies (+961 million).
The short -term debt residual adds 66,655 million dollars, concentrated in companies and banks, which exposes the country to immediate liquidity pressures.
Another risk factor is Currency composition: 81 % are called American dollars, which makes it sensitive to exchange fluctuations. However, the Government projects that the debt of the non -financial public sector will close 2025 in 46.6 % of GDP, with a tendency to moderate in the coming years.
The Dominican case
In the Dominican Republic, although the volume of the external debt It does not appear in the last official report, the pressure is observed strongly in the interest payment. This year, 298,486.4 million pesos were budgeted, a figure that is already planned to exceed more than 24,000 million pesos in the 2026 general budget. For next year, the estimated disbursement amounts to 322,560.9 million pesos, which represents an increase of 8 % compared to 2025.
Only in the first half of this year, the Dominican State allocated 146,639.3 million pesos In interest, an expense that limits fiscal capacity to attend social and investment priorities.
This scenario reflects how, in both countries, the debt financing continues to absorb resources that could be used to close inequality gaps and improve the quality of life of the population.
The contrast between Chile and the Dominican Republic evidence different dimensions of the same challenge: while Santiago manages a high volume of external debt with Fiscal stability plans In the medium term, Santo Domingo faces the growing weight of interest in its budget.
In both cases, the debt sustainability becomes a key factor for the future of their democracieseven with pending tasks in terms of equity and distribution of wealth.
