President Luis Abinader announced in his accountability speech the special measures that the Economic Cabinet will implement due to the distortion of international prices that have increased local inflation and in the face of the latest war events between Russia and Ukraine that will have global repercussions.
“I am announcing that the government is going to increase direct social assistance, deploy special programs for the sale of food, targeted subsidies that help all Dominicans, but, above all, those who have the least, who are the ones who need the most,” said the president.
These are the measures announced by the president:
1. Starting next week300,000 new cards will be offered to vulnerable people selected by the Single System of Beneficiaries (SIUBEN).Currently, the superate card has an amount of RD$1,650, which has already doubled and 500,000 new Dominicans have been added so far.
2. It will be adjusted immediatelyGas Bonus subsidy from RD$228 to RD$470 to all beneficiaries and 400,000 more will be added.Abinader said that this amount will be enough for the beneficiaries to afford up to approximately half a 25-pound tank of gas. The last adjustment was made in 2008.
3. A “special effort” will be made so that 54 new State Canteens are installed this yearfor a total of 105 kitchens throughout the national territory, increasing to 136,000 daily cooked food rations over the next few months to reach the same number of people in a state of vulnerability.
4. The government arranged a wide sales program for basic necessities at low prices through INESPRE and the 50 mobile warehouses currently operating have been authorized to double in the coming months.
5. Abinader authorized the Minister of Industry, Commerce and MSMEs, Víctor -Ito- Bisonó, to subsidize up to 10% of a possible price increase due to the war on the main raw materials for agriculture, such as wheat, soybeans and corn.
6. In relation to oil and its derivatives, the government is making budget forecasts and spending control measures to continue subsidizing and prevent the entire increase from being reflected in the price of fuel. Abinader said that only this year the sum of RD$2,600 million has been subsidized and last year RD$13,000 million.
“We are going to do everything in our power to mitigate the effects of inflation and protect the well-being of Dominicans. This also means that we will have to make adjustments and modifications to the budget in the face of this special situation of distortion and inflation of all raw materials in the world”, Abinader specified.
