Category: 3. Business

Washington, DC: The Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) completed the Article IV Consultation for the Dominican Republic[1] on November 12, 2025. The authorities need more time to consider the publication of the Staff Report prepared for this consultation.[2]

The Dominican Republic’s (DR) growth slowed in late 2024 and the first half of 2025 largely due to increased uncertainty and tighter financial conditions. There are preliminary signs that economic activity is reviving, with credit, exports, and tourism growth all picking up in recent months, underpinned by supportive monetary and fiscal policies. Inflation remains close to target and is expected to average 3.7 percent in 2025. External balances are in line with fundamentals and desirable policies. The current account deficit is expected to narrow further this year to 2.5 percent of GDP, on the back of robust exports and remittances, and is fully financed by foreign direct investment (FDI).

Growth is expected to accelerate to 4.5 percent in 2026 then converge to its long-term trend of 5 percent, while inflation is forecast to remain around the 4 percent ± 1p.p target. The current account deficit is expected to remain around 2½ percent and continue to be fully financed by FDI. The government’s deficit and debt are projected to gradually decline, in part due to the expected reduction of electricity sector losses and improved targeting of energy subsidies. This will also help to create space for planned increases in public investment.

The balance of risks is tilted to the downside, but the DR is well-positioned to weather them. External risks from global financial conditions and heightened uncertainty remain, as does the DR’s vulnerability to natural disasters. But the DR has strong economic fundamentals and policy space to respond should these risks materialize. On the upside, the DR could benefit from trade diversion and FDI inflows stemming from changes in global trade policies. Domestically, delays in implementing the authorities’ reform and public investment plans could pose a downside risk to growth, while robust implementation would create upside “risks” to growth.

 

Executive Board Assessment[3]

Executive Directors commended the Dominican Republic’s sustained efforts to strengthen policies and institutions and advance business‑friendly reforms, driving the strong macroeconomic performance over the past two decades. Directors welcomed that growth is expected to accelerate and inflation remain well‑anchored. They agreed that while downside risks persist, the country is well positioned to absorb shocks, given its strong fundamentals and policy space. Notwithstanding the strong fundamentals, Directors encouraged the authorities to continue with their prudent policies and steadfast implementation of the reform agenda to accelerate growth and enhance resilience.

Directors encouraged the authorities to maintain prudent fiscal policies and support increased public investment, in line with the medium‑term fiscal framework and Fiscal Responsibility Law. They welcomed the planned consolidation, focused on revenue mobilization and improving spending efficiency, including by removing generalized subsidies while safeguarding necessary social spending. A well‑communicated medium‑term revenue strategy could help lay the groundwork for broader fiscal reform. Directors noted that full implementation of the Electricity Pact is essential to limit fiscal risks and ensure resilience.

Directors concurred that the monetary policy stance is broadly appropriate. They underscored that strengthening the monetary transmission mechanism would help to reinforce the effectiveness of the inflation targeting framework. Accordingly, Directors encouraged efforts to advance a comprehensive and clearly communicated strategy to gradually wind down exceptional liquidity measures. Furthering domestic financial markets development would also support policy transmission. Directors highlighted the need for continued exchange rate flexibility, with interventions focused on smoothing large shocks and rebuilding buffers to bolster external stability.

Directors noted that the banking system remains healthy and systemic risks are limited. They commended the progress on enhancing the financial sector supervisory and regulatory framework. The adoption of Basel II and III standards, development of a macroprudential policy toolkit, and strengthening of the AML/CFT framework remain key priorities.

Directors welcomed the ambitious structural reform agenda, aimed at boosting the country’s potential growth and achieving high‑income status as envisioned in the Meta2036 Plan. They noted that efforts to further improve governance, advance labor and social security reforms, and efficiently invest in infrastructure, education, and health are essential to achieve these goals. Noting the progress made, Directors concurred that the Dominican Republic’s high vulnerability to natural disasters requires a comprehensive approach to mitigating risks and building resilience. Important measures include enhancing the disaster risk management frameworks and deepening natural disaster considerations in fiscal policy.

 

 

 

Dominican Republic: Selected Economic Indicators
Population (millions, 2024)                                                     10.8		GDP per capita (2024, U.S. dollars)                        11,542
Quota                                   477.4 millions SDRs / 0.10% of total		Poverty (2023, share of population)                          23.0
Main exports                                            tourism, gold, tobacco		Extreme poverty (2023, share of population)             3.2
Key export markets                                   U.S., Switzerland, Haiti		Adult literacy rate (2021, percent)                             95.5
						Projection
	2020	2021	2022	2023	2024	2025	2026
Output	(Annual percentage change, unless otherwise stated)
Real GDP	-7.9	14.0	5.2	2.2	5.0	3.0	4.5
Nominal GDP (RD$ billion)	4,440	5,427	6,257	6,765	7,403	7,977	8,701
Nominal GDP (US$ billion)	78.6	95.1	113.8	120.8	124.6	…	…
Output gap (in percent of potential output)	-6.7	-1.9	-0.8	-1.8	-0.8	-1.7	-0.9
Prices
Consumer price inflation (end of period)	5.6	8.5	7.8	3.6	3.3	3.7	4.0
Exchange Rate
Exchange rate (RD$/US$ – period average) 1/	56.5	57.1	55.0	56.0	59.4	…	…
Exchange rate (RD$/US$ – eop) 1/	58.2	57.3	56.2	58.0	61.1	…	…
Real effective exchange rate (eop, – depreciation) 1/	-8.1	6.5	6.3	-1.9	-0.4	-1.7	0.0
Government Finances	(In percent of GDP)
Consolidated public sector debt 2/	71.4	61.8	58.8	59.7	58.1	59.2	58.2
Consolidated public sector overall balance 2/	-9.0	-3.7	-3.6	-4.1	-3.9	-4.5	-3.8
Consolidated public sector primary balance	-4.3	0.7	0.6	0.8	1.1	0.5	1.0
Non-Financial Public Sector (NFPS) balance	-7.6	-2.5	-2.7	-3.1	-3.2	-3.9	-3.2
Central government balance	-7.9	-2.9	-3.2	-3.3	-3.1	-3.4	-3.2
Revenues and grants	14.2	15.5	15.3	15.8	16.4	16.0	15.5
Primary spending	18.9	15.3	15.7	16.0	16.1	15.8	15.1
Interest expenditure	3.3	3.1	2.8	3.2	3.4	3.6	3.7
Rest of NFPS	0.3	0.4	0.6	0.2	-0.1	-0.5	0.0
Financial Sector	(Annual percentage change, unless otherwise stated)
Broad money (M3)	21.2	13.4	6.3	14.4	11.3	10.3	9.5
Credit to the private sector	5.3	11.6	16.6	19.7	13.5	12.3	12.6
Net domestic assets of the banking system	2.5	11.2	9.9	13.5	19.0	9.2	10.2
Policy interest rate (in percent) 1/	3.0	3.5	8.5	7.0	6.0	…	…
Average bank deposit rate (1-year; in percent) 1/	3.1	2.3	9.9	8.6	9.8	…	…
Average bank lending rate (1-year; in percent) 1/	9.9	9.2	13.5	13.6	15.1	…	…
Balance of Payments	(In percent of GDP)
Current account	-1.7	-2.8	-5.8	-3.7	-3.3	-2.5	-2.5
Goods, net	-8.7	-12.4	-15.1	-13.1	-12.8	-12.0	-11.4
Services, net	1.8	3.9	4.8	6.0	6.7	6.6	6.4
Income, net	5.2	5.7	4.5	3.5	2.7	2.9	2.6
Capital account	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0
Financial account 3/	5.3	5.7	6.7	5.2	2.4	3.3	2.8
Foreign direct investment, net	3.3	3.4	3.6	3.6	3.6	3.5	3.5
Portfolio investment, net	7.1	2.2	2.9	2.0	1.8	3.0	1.1
Financial derivatives, net	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0	0.0
Other investment, net	-5.1	0.1	0.2	-0.4	-3.1	-3.2	-1.8
Change in reserves (-increase)	-2.5	-2.4	-1.3	-0.9	1.7	-0.8	-0.4
GIR (in millions of US dollars)	10,752	13,033	14,408	15,464	13,388	14,448	14,973
Total external debt (in percent of GDP)	56.6	47.8	39.9	43.2	43.7	45.7	45.2
of which: Consolidated public sector	40.4	35.3	33.2	34.2	34.6	36.0	35.3
Sources: National authorities; World Bank; and IMF staff calculations. 1/ Latest available. 2/ The consolidated public sector includes the budgetary central government (CG); the rest of the Non-Financial Public Sector, i.e., extra-budgetary central government institutions (decentralized and autonomous institutions), social security funds, local governments and non-financial public companies; and the quasi-fiscal central bank debt. 3/ Excluding reserves.

 

[1] Under Article IV of the IMF’s Articles of Agreement, the IMF holds bilateral discussions with members, usually every year. A staff team visits the country, collects economic and financial information, and discusses with officials the country’s economic developments and policies. On return to headquarters, the staff prepares a report, which forms the basis for discussion by the Executive Board.

[2] Under the IMF’s Articles of Agreement, publication of documents that pertain to member countries is voluntary and requires the member consent. The authorities have not yet communicated their decision on the publication of the staff report.

[3] At the conclusion of the discussion, the Managing Director, as Chair of the Board, summarizes the views of Executive Directors, and this summary is transmitted to the country’s authorities. An explanation of any qualifiers used in summings up can be found here: http://www.IMF.org/external/np/sec/misc/qualifiers.htm.

 

 

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Rolls-Royce is investing £1 billion across our modern Trent engines to increase their durability by an average of 80%, with a significant portion being delivered in 2025.

The value of online grocer Ocado has fallen sharply after Kroger, it’s major partner in the US, announced the closure of three warehouses using the UK company’s high-tech equipment.

Ocado signed a deal to build 20 automated warehouses – known as customer fulfilment centres – for Kroger, the US’s fourth largest retailer, in 2018. Eight of those facilities are currently operating with two more planned for next year. The deal was seen as a major part of Ocado’s plan to sell its online grocery delivery technology internationally.

However, on Tuesday, Kroger said sites in Frederick in Maryland, Pleasant Prairie in Wisconsin, and Groveland in Florida would close in January. Shares in Ocado were down more than 17% on Tuesday after the announcement, wiping about £350m off the value of the company.

Kroger said that after reviewing its set-up it had “identified opportunities to optimise its fulfilment network”.

It added that it would now move towards a “hybrid fulfilment network” testing out “capital-light, store-based automation in high-volume geographies” while continuing to use automated warehouse processing of online orders where it sees “higher density of demand”. It noted that it had recently expanded its relationship with quick delivery service providers DoorDash, Instacart and Uber Eats, which take goods directly from stores on bikes, mopeds and other small vehicles.

Clive Black, a retail analyst at Shore Capital, described Kroger’s announcement as a “near knockout punch” for Ocado, prompting the share price to fall below the 180p price at which it debuted on the London stock market in 2018.

He said the online grocery technology supplier “is being marginalised as most of its customer fulfilment centres do not work economically in the USA or the mass-market first world in truth.”.

While centralised, automated warehouses may work effectively to manage home deliveries of groceries in densely populated and affluent urban locations, according to Black, he said Kroger’s actions suggested that the size of Ocado’s total potential market “has been blitzed”.

“We had expected Kroger to trundle on, not close [warehouses], as part of its ongoing review, a dreadful acclamation of what Morrison, Waitrose and others already knew: capital intensive, centralised fulfilment of food to a dispersed mass-market customer does not financially work.”

Ocado said it expected to receive more than $250m (£190m) in compensation for fees related to the early closure of the sites but its fee revenue would take a $50m hit in the financial year to December 2026.

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“Ocado continues to support Kroger to optimise logistics operations and drive profitable volume growth in these remaining sites, with constructive ongoing discussions around further use of Ocado’s technology to support Kroger,” the British company said in a statement.

It added that it “expects significant growth in the US market, both with [warehousing] and store based automation.”

Like many successful researchers, Jorgensen has been guided by scientific pursuits his entire life.

As a kid growing up in Port Washington, a hamlet on the western side of Long Island, and later in Sherman, Connecticut, he conducted scores of experiments with his trusty A.C. Gilbert chemistry set, tromping off to the local drug store regularly to replenish his supply of potassium nitrate. In high school, at Phillips Exeter Academy in New Hampshire, he took AP Chemistry and taught himself how to write computer code in BASIC.

He went on to graduate from Princeton in three years, learning the computer language FORTRAN in the basement of the Frick Lab and conducting work for his first co-authored study in the Journal of the American Chemical Society. Then it was on to Harvard for graduate school (where he worked with eventual Nobel winner EJ Corey), and to Purdue to begin his teaching and independent research career.

He soon came to focus his research on the need for better simulations of systems in solution.

“I realized very quickly that I wanted to study reactions in liquids and investigate the way molecules recognize each other in solution, which can lead eventually to drug design,” Jorgensen said. “In drug design you typically have an inhibitor, a small molecule that is binding to a disease-causing protein, which then disrupts the function of that protein.”

To do this work, he needed computing know-how and processing muscle. So, he taught himself statistical mechanics to go with his working knowledge of programming, and he got together funding for a research computer.

In the late 1970s, Purdue had two CDC 6400s (an early mainframe computer built by the Control Data Corporation) in its computer center. That meant two processors for 40,000 students and faculty, compared to today when the average laptop computer has eight processors. But times were changing.

“Fortunately, I was in the right place at the right time, because by the early 1980s computer resources became more available,” Jorgensen said. “You could have your own computer in your lab, if you could find the money to buy it.”

He and his research group purchased a Harris 80 — a tall cabinet computer that occupied its own room with an air conditioner and a printer. Much of the funding for it came from a 1978 grant to Jorgensen from the National Science Foundation (NSF).

“NSF was essential to the early work I did, including the water models,” Jorgensen said. “NSF funded basic science research that led to many of the technologies and therapeutics we take for granted today.”

Meanwhile, the older guard of scientists, who’d previously held computer modeling at arm’s length began to see the value of adapting to changing technology. “In the late 1970s you had people still trying to do paper-and-pencil theory work, but you also had the new people coming in with their computers,” Jorgensen said. “There was some difficulty in my being accepted by some of the theoretical chemists at the time, who were rather dismissive of what I was doing. I had to prove I could do something useful.”

Iain Buist/NCJ Media

‘Our wonderful students’

South Florida hospital recognized at the highest level of digital care excellence

MIAMI BEACH, Fla., Nov. 18, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — Mount Sinai Medical Center has achieved HIMSS Electronic Medical Record Adoption Model (EMRAM) Stage 7 validation, the highest level of digital health maturity recognized by the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS). This distinction places Mount Sinai among a limited number of hospitals that have fully optimized their electronic medical record systems to support safer, faster, and more coordinated patient care.

What this means for patients:

Your care team now has a complete, real-time picture of your health—whether you’re in the hospital, visiting a specialist, or recovering at home. This reduces delays, helps avoid repeated tests, supports more accurate treatment decisions, and ensures that your doctors and nurses are always working from the same information.

“Achieving Stage 7 reflects our commitment to clinical excellence and continuous improvement,” said Gino R. Santorio, President and CEO of Mount Sinai Medical Center. “Investing in digital innovation is ultimately about improving patient safety and the experience of care. It ensures our clinicians have the right information at the right time to support the highest-quality decisions.”

The EMRAM Stage 7 designation recognizes Mount Sinai’s system-wide success in:

• Allowing patients to access their health information through digital tools such as MyChart, remote monitoring, and health reminders, making care more convenient and accessible
• Improving efficiency for clinicians by providing tools for clinical decision-making, real-time alerts, evidence-based order sets, and AI-supported workflows
• Providing a fully optimized, secure, and interoperable system that leverages data analytics to ensure the best outcomes for our patients 

“This milestone represents years of strong collaboration between our clinical and technology teams,” said Tom Gillette, Chief Information Officer at Mount Sinai. “Our priority has been designing digital systems that truly support the clinical workflow, improving clarity, reducing administrative burden, and giving clinicians better insight into each patient’s needs.”

The EMRAM model is used globally to evaluate how effectively hospitals use digital systems to enhance patient care, clinician support, data security, and organizational performance.

About Mount Sinai Medical Center
Founded in 1949, Mount Sinai Medical Center is the largest independent, private, not-for-profit teaching hospital in South Florida. Mount Sinai’s mission is to provide quality health care to a diverse community enhanced through teaching, research, charity care, and financial responsibility. Mount Sinai’s Centers of Excellence combine technology, research, and academics to provide innovative and comprehensive care in cardiology, neuroscience, oncology, urology, and orthopedics. One of the original statutory teaching hospitals in the state of Florida, Mount Sinai is the hospital of choice for those who seek the level of expertise and care that only a teaching hospital can offer. Mount Sinai currently offers ten convenient locations in Miami-Dade County, including three emergency centers, and four specialty care offices in Monroe County. 

SOURCE Mount Sinai Medical Center