The Governor of central bank of the Dominican Republic (BCRD), Héctor Valdez Albizu, received this Wednesday a delegation from the investment bank JP Morgan, to discuss issues aimed at developing local financial markets.
As reported by the central bank In a note, the JPMorgan representatives reiterated their interest in continuing to develop a long-term relationship in the country.
According to the information, the Dominican Republic is one of the economies that exhibits the best macroeconomic fundamentals in the region, which makes it attractive to investors.
They also pointed out their interest in being part of the development of innovative solutions and products that allow them to continue promoting the development of the financial markets of the Dominican Republic.
JP Morgan stated that “the risk mitigation mechanisms that we employ in each transaction, together with our respect for the history and reputation of the central bank”, gives them the peace of mind to continue fostering the development of a successful long-term relationship with the country.
While Governor Valdez Albizu highlighted the macroeconomic stability that prevails in the country, the strength of its financial system, exchange stability and high levels of international reserves, together with its legal security and climate of social peace. In this context, the role of central bank has been to bring certainty to economic agents and the general public.
He indicated that the Dominican economy has maintained a good performance by registering an average expansion of 5.6% in the monthly indicator of economic activity (IMAE) during January-May 2022.
He pointed out that the Dominican economy is expected to grow around 5.0% at the end of 2022, close to its potential growth.
Valdez Albizu spoke about the favorable performance of the external sector, mainly the remarkable recovery of tourism, registering more than 3.5 million non-resident visitors during the first semester, generating some 4,121 million dollars in income, and projecting that some 7 million would be received. of tourists for the end of 2022. Similarly, he highlighted that family remittances exceeded 4,800 million dollars in January-June, and are expected to close close to 10,000 million dollars at the end of the year.
In addition, it reported that total exports grew by around 14.9% in the January-May 2022 period, as a result of the year-on-year expansion of national exports by 17.7% and exports from free zones by 12.7%. For the end of the year, it is projected that the current account deficit would be between 3.0% and 3.5% of GDP, which would be comfortably financed by foreign direct investment, which would reach US$ 3,500 million this year.
This performance of foreign exchange-generating activities, accompanied by an orderly foreign exchange market, has contributed to maintaining the relative stability of the exchange rate, presenting an appreciation of approximately 5.0% in the first half of 2022. International reserves continue to strengthen, standing at above US$ 14,450 million at the end of June, equivalent to 13.3% of the gross domestic product (GDP), and approximately six months of imports.
The JP Morgan delegation was made up of executives Rob Cozzari, Geraldo Guanaes and Eugenio Alarcón.
The governor was accompanied by the manager Ervin Novas Bello, the deputy general manager Frank Montaño, the deputy manager of Monetary, Exchange and Financial Policies Joel Tejeda, the director of the Treasury department, Yamileh García Belén; and the consultants from the Treasury department José Gabriel Perdomo, Liselotte Reyes and José Eduardo Agramonte.
