- Ricardo Llaudes assures “economic growth in the Dominican Republic will be one of the highest in Latin America”
The governor of the Central Bank of the Dominican Republic (BCRD), Héctor Valdez Albizu, accompanied by the Deputy Minister of Public Credit of the Ministry of Finance and Economy (MHE), María José Martínez; held the closing meeting of the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) ‘Staff Visit’, headed by Ricardo Llaudes.
During the mission, the IMF team collected preliminary data on the Dominican economy from the public and private sectors, forecasting that the Dominican economy will close 2026 with growth of around 4% and inflation within the target range of 4% +/- 1%.
During the closing meeting held at the BCRD, Ricardo Llaudes stressed that, in his visits to representatives of the Dominican private sector, they became confident that “the resilience and robust macroeconomic fundamentals available to the country allow them to successfully navigate the sea of uncertainties created by the persistence of the Middle East conflict.”
He also stated that, from the business perspective, “the growth of the Dominican economy in 2026 will be one of the highest in Latin America, driven by an increasingly broad export base with greater added value, which gives confidence to international investors.”
Llaudes stressed that “the decisive and timely policies implemented by the Central Bank, both this year and last, and the efforts by the Ministry of Finance to increase capital investment within a prudent framework, are recognized as contributions by the public sector to the positive growth of the Dominican economy so far this year.”
The head of the IMF team added that “despite the global situation, very high-income flows continue to be seen, with high levels of exports, tourism and foreign direct investment (FDI). This will help the current account deficit remain slightly above 1.5%.”
Llaudes also referred to the financial sector, stating that “it remains resilient with high levels of capitalization and profitability. On the other hand, this delegation sees it as essential to continue with prudent fiscal policies, anchored by compliance with the fiscal rule and the protection of capital spending.”
Valdez Albizu said that the BCRD is constantly monitoring the impact of external shocks and pointed out the close collaboration that has always been maintained with the IMF. The governor highlighted the resilience of the Dominican economy in the face of external shocks and agreed with the head of mission that economic growth could reach around 4% this year.
At the meeting, Valdez Albizu was accompanied by the manager, Ervin Novas Bello; the deputy general manager, Frank Montaño; the deputy manager of Monetary, Exchange and Financial Policies, Joel Tejeda; the Deputy Manager of Operations, Liselotte Reyes; the Dominican representative to the IMF, Frank Fuentes; the economic advisor to the Governor’s Office, Julio Andújar Scheker; the deputy manager of the Department of Monetary Programming and Economic Studies, Joel González; the deputy manager of Regulation and Financial Stability, Máximo Rodríguez; the deputy manager of National Accounts, Ramón González; the deputy manager of the International department, Brenda Villanueva; the director of the Department of Regulation and Financial Stability, Carlos Delgado; the director of the Department of National Accounts and Economic Statistics, Elina Rosario; and the director of Treasury, José Perdomo.
On behalf of the IMF, in addition to Mr. Llaudes, the delegation was composed of senior economists Nathaniel Arnold and Rasool Zandvakil, and economist Ilya Stepanov. The Deputy Minister of Fiscal Policy, Camila Hernández Villamán, also participated on behalf of Finance and Economy.
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