A few weeks before the end of 2023, the governor of the Central Bank of the Dominican Republic, Héctor Valdez Albizu, projected a figure based on concrete results on how much the local economy will grow (or did grow) in the year: around 2.5%.
For 2024, the percentage he gave is more flattering: 5.0 %, around its potential.
In January 2023, the Central Bank’s forecasting system indicated that the Dominican economy would grow around 4.5%. However, the projection has been reduced in a context of international uncertainty tinged by more restrictive financial conditions, which have recently moderated.
Valdez Albizu pondered the projections for the Dominican economy while participating in a series of meetings in Guatemala.
In that country he chaired the 299th Meeting of the Central American Monetary Council (CMCA), as well as the 11th Joint Meeting of the CMCA and the Central American Council of Superintendents of Banks, Insurance and Other Financial Institutions, held on November 30 and December 1 in the city of Antigua.
Major achievement: containment of inflation
Valdez Albizu, in his capacity as president of the CMCA, highlighted the achievement of the region’s countries in containing inflation, providing monetary space to stimulate their economies and promote growth.
On the second day of the conference, each central bank was allowed to present the current macroeconomic context and its outlook for 2024.
In his speech, the governor highlighted the reduction of inflation as the main achievement during 2023 in the Dominican Republic, going from 9.64 % in April 2022 to 4.35 % in October, remaining within the target range of 4 % ± 1%.
Normalization of monetary policy
Valdez Albizu indicated that the positive inflationary results have created a space to initiate a process of monetary normalization, through the reduction of the monetary policy rate together with other financial stimuli that have begun to be reflected in a reactivation of the economy.
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