Santo Domingo – One of the Dominican Republic’s main opposition political groups, People’s Force (Fuerza del Pueblo), has sounded the alarm over mounting vulnerabilities in the country’s economy, arguing that existing monetary policy strategies are amplifying financial strain for ordinary households and small-scale enterprises across the nation.
In his first public address since taking office as the party’s newly designated Secretary of Economic Affairs, leading economist Haivanjoe Ng Cortiñas outlined a series of red flags pulled from official Central Bank data covering the period up to July 15, 2026. His analysis points to persistent inflationary momentum, a far steeper contraction in public cash circulation than historical seasonal trends, and unrelenting growth in the Central Bank’s quasi-fiscal debt obligations.
According to Ng Cortiñas’ calculations, cumulative inflation for 2026 has already hit 5.7%, while food-specific inflation has climbed even higher to 7%. Both metrics land well above the 3% to 5% target range the Central Bank has publicly committed to maintaining. The food inflation figure is particularly concerning, he emphasized, because low-income Dominican households dedicate a far larger share of their total monthly income to purchasing basic food staples, meaning rising grocery costs erode their purchasing power at a disproportionate rate.
Beyond rising prices, the economist highlighted a sharp contraction in liquid cash available to the public. Between December 2025 and mid-July 2026, cash in circulation dropped by 8.72%. In comparison, typical seasonal contractions over the same period in previous years have hovered around 5%. This larger-than-usual pullback, Ng Cortiñas explained, has created a far tighter liquidity environment that hits the most vulnerable segments of the economy hardest: informal sector workers, small and micro businesses, and working-class households that almost exclusively rely on cash for daily transactions.
Ng Cortiñas also leveled criticism at the ongoing expansion of the Central Bank’s quasi-fiscal debt, noting that the outstanding value of the bank’s certificates and short-term notes has grown by 6.8% in the first seven months of 2026 alone. He argued that the mounting interest payments tied to this debt ultimately become a fiscal burden for Dominican taxpayers, while the primary benefits flow to large financial institutions that hold the majority of these securities.
Finally, the economist questioned the recent 7.57% appreciation of the Dominican peso against the U.S. dollar. While a stronger peso does lower costs for companies importing goods into the country, it erodes the domestic value of the billions in dollar-denominated remittances sent home by Dominicans living abroad. It also puts local exporters and the country’s key tourism sector at a competitive disadvantage, as both groups generate the vast majority of their revenue in U.S. dollars.