During a meeting with AIRD executives, the governor of the Central Bank affirms that the country is attractive due to its resilience and certainty about the performance of the economy
The governor of central bank of the Dominican Republic (BCRD), Hector Valdez Albizureported that there is a growing interest on the part of corporations and international investors in the Dominican Republic, ‘attracted by our resilience, the certainty about the performance of the economy and the possibilities of return for their investments.’
Valdez Albizu spoke at a meeting with the Association of Industries of the Dominican Republic (AIRD), where the president of this entity, Julius Virgil Brachepraised the measures taken by the central bank from the outbreak of the pandemic to the present, ‘thanks to which an enviable stable economic climate has been achieved in the region’.
Valdez Albizu highlighted the stability of the exchange rate, considering that the accumulated appreciation as of December 30, 2022 was 2.0%. To this is added that international reserves reached the historical figure at the end of last year of US$14,440.6 million, equivalent to 5.6 months of imports and 12.8 percent of gross domestic product (GDP).
He expressed his optimism about the prospects for the Dominican economy in 2023, noting that ‘the result of 4.9% economic growth in 2022 in the context of a delicate international situation like the current one, recently emerged from a global crisis caused by covid-19 , and with adverse atmospheric phenomena that affected agriculture, it can be considered a success’.
Also with respect to the forecasts of the BCRD for this year 2023, in accordance with what is indicated in the forecasts of international organizations such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Bank (WB) and the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC). ), that the growth of the Dominican economy would reach a figure of around 4.5 percent.
Likewise, he referred to the Central Bank’s forecasts regarding inflation, which ‘we think will converge this year within the target range of 4+/-1%, as the monetary policy transmission mechanism continues to operate and as the the conjunctural factors that have affected the volatile component of prices, mainly the effects of climatic phenomena and the drop in the prices of containers and commodities’.
He highlighted that the year-on-year consumer price index (CPI) stood at 7.83% at the end of 2022, 181 basis points less from a maximum of 9.64% in April of that year, the underlying inflation data being especially relevant for stability. of prices, which stood at 6.56% as of December, a figure that distinguishes the Dominican Republic compared to other countries in the region.
He pointed out the importance of the fact that the monetary policy rate has remained at 8.50% per year for about three months, indicating a pause, at a time when almost all the central banks of Latin America have increased their rates, placing them significantly above the levels prior to the pandemic, as is the case of Argentina (75%), Brazil (13.75%), Colombia (12.75%), Uruguay (11.50%), Chile (11.25%), Mexico (10.50%), or Costa Rica (9 %).
