"For the country to fail the world would have to fail first,” says, Fernandez

President Leonel Fernandez said in the context of the global financial crisis, even in the worse case scenario, "for the country to fail the world would have to fail first.”

The chief executive said Dominican Republic’s challenge is to maintain economic growth with low inflation, and stability in the exchange rate and external accounts, and affirmed that the Government doesn’t plan to raise taxes.

He said it’s somewhat surprising that in last year’s fourth quarter, inflation was 4.5% from a projected 12%.

On the 2009 projections Fernandez said the Central bank projects a growth of three percent, compared with that of The Economist, which places it at a more moderate 1.0%.

Fernandez spoke on the topic Vision and priorities for the next five years, in the “Table of Businesses in the Dominican Republic, responding to the economic crisis global," organized by the The Economist Group, with the attendance of business leaders, specialists in international business and Government officials.