Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, Aug 22, 2004 / 22:00 pm
The President of the Bishops Conference of the Dominican Republic, Archbishop Ramon de la Rosa, called on the government to “fully commit itself” to addressing the crisis the country faces, and he asked Dominicans to support the measures announced by newly elected President Leonel Fernandez.
Archbishop De la Rosa also explained that the weak economy means the country needs to be more austere, and he recommended the fostering of national and foreign investment.
For his part, the new president said he was inheriting a government “with a balance in the red,” and that “there is not one cent with which to begin to work.”
In order to address the crisis, President Fernandez promised to take measures to reduce government spending and to implement the tax reform proposed by the International Monetary Fund.