SANTO DOMINGO.- Former President Leonel Fernández disqualified this Tuesday practically the entire speech offered by President Luis Abinader on February 27 before the National Assembly and assured that in the current government administration, the country went from third place to 13th place in terms of economic growth in the region.
“When sectors examine the growth of our economy, the inequality that exists between the different components that contribute to the creation of wealth in the Dominican Republic becomes remarkable,” Fernández said in a televised speech.
MINING AND CONSTRUCTION IN DECLINE
The ex-governor said, in this sense, that while the hotel, bar, and restaurant sector had an exponential growth of 24% in 2022, the mining and quarrying sector had a collapse of -7.2%; construction, a failure of 0.6%, and local industry, a “pyrrhic” increase of 2.2%.
“The unfortunate thing is that those sectors that performed badly last year, ignored by the president in his rendering of accounts, are intensive in generating jobs and boosting the development of other economic activities,” he said.
“How do you explain to the people that while the gross domestic product (GDP) increases, there are more than 614,000 people who want to work, but cannot find where to do it, because the expansion of the economy is not generating job opportunities for them?”, he asked himself.
The president of the Fuerza del Pueblo said that for this, “comparison periods are chosen at convenience” to make public opinion believe that notable progress has been made in reducing unemployment.
“They even pride themselves on making us believe that the miracle of economic recovery benefits us all,” he argued.
PRODUCT PRICE INCREASE
He assured that one of the greatest concerns and torments of the Dominican people is related to the increase in prices of the products of greatest national consumption.
“However, in his long speech, President Abinader spent little time addressing him and suggesting solutions. He only did it when he said that the country had reached inflation below 8% in 2022,” he said.
However, he affirmed that the prices of the basic basket have skyrocketed “alarmingly,” exceeding the inflation target established by the Central Bank of a maximum of 5%.
«Despite referring to the index chicken and the index plantain, the price increases are not a joke. On the contrary, it is something tragic, a nightmare, especially for the most vulnerable sectors of our population,” said Fernández.
The former president assured that Dominican consumers do not find the index mentioned above chicken when they go to supermarkets, grocery stores, ventorrillos, and markets.
He added that they would look for chicken with breasts, thighs, wings, and legs, which is 53% more expensive than when the current Government began in August 2020.
“Herring is almost 70% more expensive; soybean oil, 67% more expensive; beef, 64% more expensive; cassava, 63% more expensive; and plantains, cornmeal, pork and potatoes, among other products, are also 50% more expensive,” he assured.
He believes construction materials, transportation, and electricity prices have also risen.
