Santo Domingo. – The Minister of Finance, Jochi Vicente, expressed that the resources extracted to pay the debts taken in the Dominican government are contemplated within the general budget of the State for the coming years.

When questioned about how much the public debt amounts to with this new financing, the Minister of Finance explained that it is increasing with the supplementary budget and that the specific data for the moment could not be offered.

“The debt increases in addition to what was previously the non-financial public sector debt, and this was around 48% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) at the beginning, and with this budget, it will increase by the amount that we are asking for additional”, expressed Vicente.

He said that part of what will be done with the supplementary budget is adequate planning to maintain debt sustainability so that resources are available to honor the commitments that the government has assumed both internally and externally.

Regarding the reconstruction of houses to reactivate the economy, and the six billion pesos of increases for Public Works, the Minister of Finance said that within the complementary budget the fulfillment of the commitment assumed by President Abinader is contemplated.

He stated that the number of homes that will be rebuilt would be around 27,000 and within these are those that were affected by the passage of Storm Isaías, especially in the Hato Mayor province.

The official said that the budget presented to the deputies is oriented to cover the needs that the government has from August to December, for certain items of expenses mainly concentrated in social assistance and income maintenance programs.

Vicente explained that within the Phase 1 and Phase 2, Pa ti, and Stay at Home programs, there are around 90 billion pesos earmarked within the supplementary budget, which is what is increasing in expenses.

Similarly, he stressed that the other large-scale item, which is around 17 billion pesos, is to address the health issue and within that amount, 15 billion are to address the issue of COVID-19 and the 2 billion pesos are from the president’s commitment to include family health insurance for nearly two million inhabitants.