Press Release No. 08/178

Press Release: IMF Announces Closure of the Dominican Republic Resident Representative Office

July 15, 2008

Erik Offerdal, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) resident representative for the Dominican Republic, issued the following statement today in Santo Domingo:

"The IMF has decided to close its resident representative office in the Dominican Republic at the end of this month. This decision is part of an internal refocusing and modernization process where about 20 of its resident offices around the world, some of these in Latin America, will be closed. As part of this process, some of the remaining Resident Representative offices will undertake a wider regional role, covering more than one country.

"Notwithstanding this closure, the IMF remains committed to working closely with the Dominican authorities to support their goals of sustaining growth and maintaining macroeconomic and financial stability. The Dominican Republic has recovered well from the banking crisis in 2003, and the country successfully completed a three-year Stand-By Agreement with the IMF in January this year.

"Going forward, the IMF will participate in the high-level meeting between the Dominican government and the multilateral financial institutions planned for this August, and shortly thereafter an IMF staff mission is expected to visit Santo Domingo to initiate the Post-Program Monitoring process recently announced (see Press Release No.08/150). Moreover, The IMF will continue to provide training and technical assistance in the areas of our expertise.

"The relationship with the Dominican authorities has been very strong, and the Fund would like to thank them for their hospitality. We look forward to a continued close and constructive relationship in our future policy dialogue."