The Minister of Economy, Planning and Development, Pável Isa Contreras, explained in which areas the Government aspires to invest more through the reorientation or increase of public resources, in order to provide essential quality services to the population, as well as to stimulate the continuous growth and modernization of companies.
In an article published in a national newspaper, the economist and academic researcher explained that the State’s capacity to provide services depends on the state of the economy, together with the generation of income and, consequently, on the quality and productivity of companies and individuals.
He specified that, in the current context of the Dominican Republic, this is only possible through the reorientation of public resources from less productive activities and investments to others that are more productive and of high economic and social impact, as well as the increase of available public resources through a tax reform together with continuous and systematic actions to improve tax administration and reduce tax non-compliance.
The Minister of Economy mentioned as investment priorities the increase of the population’s health levels with the effective implementation of the primary care strategy, something that, according to Isa Contreras, can be achieved by strengthening the integral health services networks, investing to multiply primary care units and improving the articulation of the different levels of care.
“This would be an investment with great redistributive power in favor of the poorest segments, which would see a reduction in their out-of-pocket spending, waiting times for services and work and school absenteeism.” In addition, deploying the first level of care would make the health system much more efficient by decongesting second and third level services, which are much more costly,” he said.
He added that strengthening and modernizing public security is another of the government’s priorities, which would imply increasing the number of agents available, strengthening their capacities and training to provide quality services, improving equipment and strengthening investigation and evidence processing capacities to increase the probabilities of bringing cases to a successful conclusion in the justice system.
The construction of efficient and low-emission urban transportation systems, whose planning processes consider current and future demand by incorporating the variables of urban growth, has also been defined as a priority.
Minister Isa Contreras affirmed that expanding and improving potable water and sanitation systems has been one of the most important investment priorities of the present government administration, in order to close more rapidly the service gaps, which especially affect the poorest communities.
Regarding the prioritization of road infrastructure, the economist argued that highways, streets and roads boost productivity and competitiveness by reducing the time and cost of moving people and goods, as well as connecting communities while expanding markets and improving access to services.
In addition, Pável Isa Contreras highlighted the need to increase municipal budgets and strengthen the capacities of municipalities to spend well, while subjecting them to robust social oversight.
“These six do not exhaust the list of areas that merit greater investment and public efforts in terms of resources, but they should be among the highest priorities, in order to satisfy people’s demands and support more decisively the transformation and productive modernization,” concluded the Minister of Economy.
Source:presidencia.gob.do
