When evaluating the performance of the Dominican economy this 2022the Economist Haivanjoe NG Cortinas considered that the worst thing that has happened to the population, especially the low-income population, has been the persistent price increaseswhich will end the year at a level well above that estimated by the monetary authorities.
He stated that by the end of this year Dominican inflation will be close to 8.0% and that he is concerned that in the month of November it has rebounded by 0.47%.
“The rise in the prices of the items in the basic basket for the year that is ending coincides with the 20 years that the Central Bank has of having assumed the inflation targeting scheme as the guideline for the conduct of its monetary policy, just the one that set for 2022 at 4.0%, which means that the increase in prices would be almost doubling the aforementioned target with a deviation close to 4 percentage points”, emphasized NG Cortiñas.
The economist considered that, although it is true that the price increase in recent months lost intensity, along with what is happening in the rest of the world, the Dominican economy during 2022 always registered price increases each month, although specifically in the last four in a less pronounced way, with the exception of November that rebounded compared to the three previous months.
"From the official coast it has been reported that the economy began to converge towards the target range, however, I can assure and affirm that in In the world economy, risks persist, such as some inconveniences in the supply chain, the rise in prices of materials are exposed to resume their trend, as soon as China returns to normality, interrupted by the new wave of COVID-19 and if the workers of the main economies of the world manage to have their wages adjusted upwards, due to the loss of purchasing power they have had due to inflation”, stated the economist.
In his reflection on the Dominican economy at the end of this year, he expressed: “I want to make a called on the authorities that are responsible for managing the issue of inflation, not to be filled with optimism with the decrease in the intensity of inflation, that the comfort zone for prices in the Dominican economy is still far from being a reality, not only because inflation in 2022 will almost double the proposed inflation target, but also because the horizon for 2023 in terms of prices in the international economy is still not clear, given the permanence of the various risks that may once again affect inflation”.
He added that During the year that is ending, Dominican inflation has taken away a little more than RD$ 884.0 in purchasing power from the higher minimum wage, which is RD$21,000 and the cost of the basic national family basket has risen by around RD$1,700 per month, which indicates that the coverage of the minimum wage is only around 49.0% of the total cost of the aforementioned basket of food and services that is close to RD$ 43 thousand per month.
on the positive
The economist considered that the best thing that has happened to the Dominican economy is the appreciation of the peso against the US dollar.
The exchange rate in the spot market has moved from RD$57.52 at the beginning of January to RD$55.23 in the second week of December of the current year, which represents an appreciation of the Dominican peso of 3.98%, contrary to …