DR1: Electric Tariff Increase Refused

International organizations have been pressing the government to adjust to their conditions and be able to obtain financing for the electric sector among others, causing Presidential Minister Danilo Medina to complain about the strictness and obstacles they represent. According to Medina, the World Bank (WB) is asking that the price of electric energy be let to float, something the government does not want. Already, Dominicans pay one of the highest rates for the service in the Americas, if not the highest. Diario Libre reports that yesterday, the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) stated there would be no financing for the electric sector until distributors improve their collections index. Meanwhile, in an editorial, Diario Libre urges the local authorities to resist the international pressures, pointing to complicities of international organizations in how the debt has piled on. "If ! the IMF wants to guarantee the financial viability of the companies to help its friends in the World Bank save the bad loans that they made to finance some projects in the country, they should think twice," states the editorial writer. The newspaper concludes that the Dominican state should show a less complacent attitude before many users that are politically untouchable and refuse to pay the subsidy so that he who wants power pay for it. "Dominican development demands that we all be partners, including the international organizations."