The former Minister of Economy, Juan Ariel Jiménez, presented this Friday the statistics published by the Central Bank of the Dominican Republic (BCRD) which, in their opinion, deny that the country has recovered formal jobs in the private sector to pre-pandemic levels, as affirmed by the Minister of LaborLuis Miguel De Camps.
The former official and member of the Political Committee of the Dominican Liberation Party (PLD), argued that the Government has been saying since last year that all formal jobs have been recovered, “but when you see the figures from the Central Bank you realize it’s not true”.
When participating in the special interview of the Despierta con CDN program, the PLD leader explained that during the last quarter of 2019, prior to the coronavirus pandemic, the country had 4 million 716 thousand 189 people employed in the formal, informal and domestic sectors, while the first months of 2022 register 4 million 640 thousand 113 employed citizens, which represents a difference of 76 thousand 076 jobs less than in 2019.
Likewise, citing tabulated data from the Central Bank, it showed that it is also not true that the Government has recovered formal jobs in the private sector, as the Minister of Labor affirms, because during the pre-pandemic period there were 2 million 299 thousand 463 formal jobs, while 2022 registers 2 million 136 thousand 626 employed people, which represents a difference of 162 thousand 837.
Almost 50 thousand jobs less in the commerce sector
In addition, he indicated that the data from the Central Bank shows that in 2022 there are almost 50 thousand fewer jobs (335,746) in the commerce sector than those registered at the end of 2019 (357,493).
However, he clarified that the informal sector does register a significant growth in jobs compared to all periods of 2019, while explaining that this sector is made up of chiriperos, street vendors and other people who seek life in a market of worked.
In this sense, he specified that during the pre-pandemic period the country had 578 thousand 802 informal jobs, while the first six months of 2022 registered 648 thousand 184, which represents an increase of 69 thousand 382 informal jobs in the commerce sector.
When weighing the joint figures of jobs in all sectors of the Dominican economy, he said that 2022 also registers a significant growth in informal jobs in relation to 2019, because data provided by the BCRD indicate that in the last quarter In 2019 there were 2 million 156 thousand 106 informal jobs, while in 2022 we have 2 million 287 thousand 714, for a difference of 131 thousand 608 informal jobs.
The economist and vice president of the Dominican Liberation Party also referred to a resolution of the Social Security Treasury (TSS) in which the body warns that:
“Given that employers on different occasions have been benefited by special laws that have granted them exemption from their overdue debts with the TSS, these statistics cannot be taken as an indicator of formal employment in the Dominican Republic nor can it be inferred that the behavior of contributions it reflects the reality of the number of workers in the Dominican labor market for each specific period.”
The TSS and employment indicators
Therefore, Ariel Jiménez questioned whether the Government establishes the country’s formal employment based on data that the TSS itself has said should not be used to make inferences.
“And I’m going to explain why. Law 13-20 established a kind of amnesty that allowed more than 300,000 people, not that they will have new jobs, but rather regularize their status in Social Security. So, how these data from the TSS enter and leave through the amnesties, are not used as an indicator of employment in the Dominican Republic or anywhere in the world”, he explained, specifying that the employment indicators are the data published by the BCRD .
He stated that the Government chaired by Luis Abinader for all issues seeks data that does not correspond to what the same accredited State entities establish that the evaluation of statistics should be, just to look good before Dominican society.
However, he clarified that in no way does he deny that the country has managed to recover from the economic crisis caused by the pandemic and international conflicts, “but when an incorrect assessment is made that we are better than ever, that we have fully recovered, then, there is a bad evaluation that disrespects people.”
When participating in Despierta con CDN, the economist and PLD leader also addressed the issue of the arrival in the country of non-resident foreigners, from what he said it is also not true that in 2022 they have entered more to the Dominican Republic than in previous years.
In this sense, he presented tabulated data from the Central Bank indicating that, in the period January-June 2022, the arrival of non-resident foreigners was 3 million 502 thousand 152, while in the same period of 2019 3 million 560 thousand 212 were received. , which represents a decrease of 58 thousand 060.
“The country has recovered, but it cannot be said that we have more non-resident foreigners as the Ministry of Tourism has stated since September of this year,” said economist Juan Ariel Jiménez.
He explained that what is seen is a significant increase that exceeds pre-pandemic levels is in the number of Dominicans residing abroad who arrive in the country, which, in his opinion, is due to the fact that they received a series of benefits from the fiscal policy of the United States, a situation that also has a positive impact on remittances.
“Non-resident Dominicans generally depend on the economy of those countries, not on what the national government does. They are two different audiences, the figures must be said with humility, if they had said that we are recovering, we would all agree, ”he said, jokingly.
DR fourth country of Latin America with the highest inflation
In relation to inflation, he said that the Dominican Republic is ranked fourth in the list of countries with the highest inflation or price increases in Latin America, noting that the variation rate of the Consumer Price Index (CPI) is by 17.0%, during the period August 2020-July 2022, according to the BCRD.
“So, if we are the fourth country with the highest inflation, that means that there are problems beyond the pandemic crisis that affects all Latin American countries equally and the Russia-Ukraine war that also affects countries equally. . Why did the country grow before and prices were controlled and now not?” questioned Juan Ariel Jiménez.
Finally, he called on the government authorities to admit that what was said in the official speech that the country would be close to the average inflation of other nations is not true. In addition, he asked “to stop making excuses.”
