Government fails to reduce debt to electric companies, crisis deepens

posted on: Feb 18 2010 9:11 by Royston. Viewed 506 times.


The Government admitted on Wednesday that the electrical problems in the Dominican Republic are "very serious" and more profound than the authorities had considered, but said government representatives and international agencies had come up with a plan for a final solution.

Vicente Bengoa, Minister of Finance reported that the agencies involved in creating this plan  included the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the InterAmerican Development Bank (IDB)  the World Bank, and the Dominican Corporation of State Electrical Companies (CDEEE).

He said the last group meeting was held on Wednesday from 9am to 3pm.

The official said that the crisis being experienced by the electricity sector "is every day deeper than the authorities had believed." He had therefore pressed the vice president of the CDEEE, Celso Marranzini, to find solutions quickly

Moreover, the president of the Dominican Association of the Electricity Industry (ADIE), Marco de la Rosa, said the Government's debt to this sector is around US$500 million and that of that amount about US$350 million is overdue.

He explained the government's commitment to the IMF was not to carry debt to the sector past 45 days. However the figure of $350M has now been outstanding for 3 and a half months. He was promised settlement 2 weeks ago, but nothing has materialized, he said.

Marco de la Rosa went on to say Marranzini made yet another commitment to make a debt payment this month. He said that the monthly invoice level is around  US$100 million.

He revealed that in February, Marranzini promised to make significant payments to the generators, with the aim of  reducing arrears to 45 days by March. However, so far this year only partial payments of 20% to 50% of the invoices had been made.

To reinforce the gravity of the situation, another 4 blackouts were experienced at the National Palace yesterday.

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