The Public Debt Of The Dominican Continued To Rise In 2022, But Fell With Respect To GDP

The Dominican Republic's public debt as of the end of 2022 was 59.1% of GDP, down from the 61.0% recorded in August 2020, according to reports from Minister of Finance, José Manuel (Jochi) Vicente, Diario Libre reported.

The reduction in the debt of the Non-Financial Public Sector has been greater than the consolidated one, the minister emphasized.

He noted that the Modern Revolutionary Party (PRM), which took office in August 2020, began with a coefficient of 49.7% of GDP and at the preliminary end of 2022 it ended at 46.1%.

However, when converted to monetary values, these percentages show a growth in the debt's total amount.

The debt of the Non-Financial Public Sector was 43,091.1 million dollars as of September 2020 and increased to 52,264.4 million dollars as of November 2022, according to the most recent update of the public debt statistics released by the Ministry of Finance.

The nominal GDP increased from 94,523.7 million in 2021 to 113,259.6 million in November 2022.

The country's external debt increased again last year, despite the fact that the public debt has a lower proportionality to GDP. It reached a total of 36,375.7 million dollars as of November, accounting for 32.1% of GDP, according to information provided by the Treasury.

The two largest multilateral creditors of the nation are still the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), with 3,966.8 million dollars, and the World Bank, with 1,169.8 million dollars. They account for 10.9% and 3.2% respectively, of the total debt owed by the nation.

Although the involvement of the Development Bank of Latin America (CAF) in foreign debt expanded, its annual amount did not exceed 180.4 million dollars between 2018-2021, as of November of last year it was 414.5 million dollars, for 1.1%.

Another debt that also increased, but among the bilateral ones, is the one that the country has with Japan.

Bonds make up the greatest portion of the Non-Financial Public Sector's external debt, totaling 27,738.4 million USD as of November 2022, or 76.3%.

The minister gave the assurance that the government will continue its "proactive management of the debt" in 2023 in order to continue ensuring its viability and advance even further toward the objective of receiving the Investment Grade rating from the risk rating agencies.