President Fernández Proposes Countries Facing International Economic Crises Form Block

Dominican President Leonel Fernández proposed the creation of a block comprised of the 157 countries affected by the rise of oil prices as a way of demanding that oil producers invest part of the unregulated profits they earn in prepaid sales.

“The idea is to recycle the resources through this mechanism of solidarity and to permit our people to survive this crisis…”

Fernández said the investment would consist of $40 billion dollars for which he called on the collaboration of international figures such as former US President Bill Clinton and former UN Secretary Kofi Anna both of whom expressed interest in promoting the idea, according to a press release from the President’s Office of Information, Press and Publicity.

According to President Fernández, these investments would consist of concessions, long term loans and direct investments in countries affected by the crisis.

“The idea is to recycle the resources through this mechanism of solidarity and to permit our people to survive this crisis. This also contributes to the improved economic growth which will helps maintain stability and also benefit the oil producers because exports to our countries are not going to abate,” said the President.

President Fernández called on the US Congress, through Dominican-American elected officials and a Congressional representative who will travel to the US, to support the efforts to reduce oil purchase speculation.

The declarations of President Fernández made in the “Dialogue with the Press about the Impact in the Dominican Republic As a Result of the Global Energy Crisis Affecting the World,” in the Ambassadors Hall on the third floor of the National Palace in the presence of tens of national and international journalists.

He said the negative impact on the Dominican economy due to the rise in oil prices has caused an increase in inflation and a drop in economic growth which worries him because the impact on a developing economy is immediately felt by such shifts. He also talked about the running trade imbalance between Dominican imports and exports.

The President noted that this oil crisis also affects the electric, farming, export and transport sectors among others, adding that the subsidy of 650 million to the electric-producing sector comes close to the proposed billion dollars.

Notwithstanding, President Fernández said he would examine the situation with the goal of designing a policy that can decrease the effects of the global economic crisis in the Dominican Republic.  

He announced that on Tuesday July 15, he would present a supplementary budget to the National Congress that will help the country face the crisis.

The President maintained that the skyrocketing oil prices are due also to an increase in demand, generated by a system of unregulated contracts on a futures plan which directly affects countries like ours.