The country cooperatives Instead of reducing their support for the social programs that they carry out in the midst of the problems generated by the pandemic and the war in UkraineThey have strengthened them. In addition, they keep their interest rates stable despite the increases in inflation and the rise in the monetary policy rate that the government has implemented. Central Bank of the Dominican Republic (BCRD)which makes the credit granted by financial entities more expensive.
So they assured Franco De los Santosadministrative president of the Cooperative Credit and Development Institute (Idecoop); Octavio Bremon and Lucas Figuereopresident and manager, respectively, of the National Cooperative of Multiple Services for Teachers (Coopnama); Leo RoaMarketing and Advertising Manager, Coocentral; Eliodoro de la Rosapresident of the Manoguayabo Multiple Savings and Services Cooperative Administrative Council; Eufracia Gomez Morillo and Jose Joaquin Rosariopresident and executive director, respectively, of the National Council of Cooperatives (Conacoop) and Leidy SantanaBrand coordinator of CCOP-Aspire, during their participation as guests in the segment Hablan los Negocios, which coordinates the Economy section of the newspaper HOY.
The representatives of the cooperative sector expressed that the high levels of inflation are affecting all the economies of the world, especially those of the Latin American region.
Can read: Elvis Paniagua explains the steps and requirements to create cooperatives
They added that in the country the BCRD has taken measures to face this situation, for which it has made six consecutive increases in its monetary policy rate, until it is at its current level of 6.50% per year.
They said that this measure has caused increases in interest rates in the financial sector, however the savings and credit cooperatives maintain their rates, because they have financial intermediation margins of 4.88% (Coopnama case) in relation to what pay their associates and what they charge for the services they offer.
They highlighted that Idecoop, as the regulator of the sector, is working on the promotion of new cooperatives, especially of agricultural origin, which have a significant impact on food production.
For this, there is an alliance with all the public entities that intervene in the agricultural sector in order to provide financing for the development of community projects. In addition, Idecoop is carrying out a survey to determine the behavior of the cooperatives in the country, taking into account the dynamism that the cooperative sector presents after the covid 19 pandemic.
To date they have processed some 993 cooperatives out of 1,903 which is estimated to exist throughout the country.
The 933 have assets of some RD$239,000 million and a credit portfolio of RD$139,000 million. It is estimated that there are about three million members.
During the interview, the representatives of the cooperative sector highlighted that the exponential growth that cooperatives have registered in the last two years, regardless of the crisis generated by covid-19, is because people believe in cooperatives.
You may be interested in: Falls and rises in the history of cooperativism RD
They affirmed that the competent organizations are working on strengthening so that the new cooperatives can have an integration entity that deals with what training is, because through training the awakening of the partners who will serve as advocates in their communities.
They also highlight the important social work of cooperatives through different programs.
Scholarship programs aimed at the children of members, health services, camps, mutual aid, creation of contingency fundsamong others, have been strengthened, which contributes not only to economic development, but also to social development.
They added that cooperativism promotes the free association of individuals and families with common interests, to build a company in which everyone has equal rights and in which the profit obtained is distributed among its associates according to the work that each one of the members contributes. .
They assured that the fiduciary nature of cooperatives allows them to be resilient.
They added that the level of resilience of the cooperatives is based on the trust of their members, because the cooperatives produce results for their members, who are the owners, therefore all their operations are taken by consensus with them.
