Day: April 27, 2022

Budget Director: “Government is focused on the people who need it most”

Rijo Presbot Values the Positive Impact of Subsidies, Transfers, and Favorable Indicator Evaluation. The Budget Director, José Rijo Presbot, explained that President Luis Abinader's administration has used subsidies as an effective transitional tool to alleviate the effects of the crisis caused by the coronavirus and imported inflation following the war between Russia and Ukraine. Rijo Presbot stated that inflation places a very heavy burden on poor households, and therefore, the government has implemented intervention mechanisms that, thanks to transfers, prevented 301,865 people from falling into poverty. In this regard, the Budget Director affirmed that, "all this effort to find money for social subsidies has only one purpose: to protect people." He also highlighted that the significant effort to align the plan with the budget, along with this administration's dedication and determination to allocate resources where they are truly needed, allowed the Dominican Republic to achieve truly incredible results in 2021: 12.41% GDP growth, a 2.7% reduction in the deficit, and a decrease in borrowing requirements. The Budget Director stated that in 2021 alone, RD$125,525.7 million was allocated to programs to mitigate the pandemic, distributed as incentives for humanitarian work, support for businesses, the People's Pharmacies, productive sectors, household subsidies, and COVID-19 vaccines. Similarly, in 2020, RD$125,920.3 million was allocated to social assistance programs such as Stay Home, Phase, and PA'TI, aimed at providing resources to low-income families. Fuel Subsidies: Rijo Presbot praised the positive impact of fuel subsidies and highlighted that these social measures implemented by the Government prevented 48,253 people from falling into poverty. “In the first week of January, the fuel subsidy was RD$191 million, and in the first week of April, RD$1,150 million. To date, fuel subsidies total RD$8,615 million, which were not budgeted and must come from internal savings to avoid further increasing the deficit,” Rijo Presbot pointed out. Guaranteed Food Security: He also noted that, as a policy response to inflation, more than 8,500 mobile stores and more than 1,500 farmers' markets were established throughout the country to benefit families. Rijo Presbot affirmed that the evaluation of the indicators clearly demonstrates that the measures taken have benefited those most in need. The Director General of Budget made these statements during his participation in the program “Despierta RD”, broadcast through Telecentro channel 13.