Weekly Report - 16 September 2003

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC | Government takes over power distributor. The government of President Hipólito Mejí­a has bought back the shares held by Unión Fenosa of Spain in the power distribution utilities Edenorte and Edesur, claiming that the company had failed to fulfil its obligation to provide a reliable service. Critics say the agreement is not a beneficial one: in 1999 Unión Fenosa paid US$210m for the concession, they note, and now it is being paid US$423m to withdraw. 

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC | Downturn in first half. The Dominican Republic's GDP contracted by 0.8%, according to the central bank. It was dragged down by declines in commerce (-15.4%), transport (-9.8%), agriculture (-7.2%), manufacturing (-6.7%) and construction (-3.7%) — which offset expansion in tourism (+33.6%) and mining (+20%).

CENTRAL AMERICA | Trade deficit grows. Despite a 15% increase in export earnings, to US$4.85bn, Central America's trade deficit in the first half of the year rose to US$6.47bn, 2.3% higher than that of the comparable period of 2002. Just under two-thirds of all exports were made by two countries: Costa Rica (US$1.96bn) and Guatemala (US$1.19bn). Imports in the first half totalled US$11.48bn, or 7.3% more than in the first half of last year.