Weekly Report -18 January 2005

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC | Power crisis lingers on. The government has announced that this year it can only guarantee enough electricity to cover 70% of demand because the distributors bear a financial deficit that prevents them from making the necessary investments to overcome the problem. President Leonel Fernández last week set up a commission charged with solving the sector's liquidity constraints. The government has set aside US$350m for that purpose this year and hopes to have wiped out the deficit by 2006.