The Central Bank of the Dominican Republic ( es, Banco Central de la República Dominicana, BCRD) was established by the Monetary and Banking Law of 1947 as the central bank of the Dominican Republic, responsible for regulating the country's monetary and banking system. The Bank's headquarters is in Santo Domingo, and its current governor is

Héctor Valdez Albizu Héctor Manuel Valdez Albizu (born November 10, 1947) is the current Governor of the Central Bank of the Dominican Republic, a position he first held from 31 August 1994 through 16 August 2000, and again since 17 August 2004. He is also a well kn ...

Establishment and objectives

Organic Law no. 6142 of December 29, 1962, authorized the central bank to promote and maintain favorable monetary,

foreign exchange The foreign exchange market (Forex, FX, or currency market) is a global decentralized or over-the-counter (OTC) market for the trading of currencies. This market determines foreign exchange rates for every currency. It includes all aspec ...

and credit conditions for the stability and development of the national economy. The central bank's functions include regulating market liquidity levels by: determining deposit reserve requirements for banks; implementing lending limits when necessary; and issuing negotiable securities. Additional functions include controlling movements of the

exchange rate In finance, an exchange rate is the rate at which one currency will be exchanged for another currency. Currencies are most commonly national currencies, but may be sub-national as in the case of Hong Kong or supra-national as in the case of ...

and introducing resolutions pertaining to the financial system.

Activities and structure

The BCRD implements all changes to banking regulation proposed by the Monetary Board (''Junta Monetaria'') which is the highest body of authority within the institution. The Board consists of ten members, all of which are appointed by the executive. The governor of the central bank heads the Monetary Board while the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Industry and Commerce each have a seat on the Board. The BCRD Governor is appointed by the executive for a period of two years, though with

there has been continuity at this senior post for several years despite political administration changes. Albizu was the BCRD governor from 1994 until 2000, again holding the post from August 2004. Since late 1993, BCRD has worked with the sponsorship of the

Inter-American Development Bank The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB or IADB) is an international financial institution headquartered in Washington, D.C., United States of America, and serving as the largest source of development financing for Latin America and the Caribb ...

to improve several areas of banking practice.

Performance and reform since the 1990s

Monetary policy during the 1990s was conducted within a framework of limited central bank autonomy and a managed floating exchange rate regime. A key objective of the BCDR was price stability in conjunction with real output growth and reserve accumulation, such that the stock of BCRD net domestic assets became the targeted policy instrument. Liquidity was managed directly through credit controls and freezing asset reserves. BCRD also intervened in the private foreign exchange market, smoothing the volatility of the exchange rate. However, the monetary authorities recently moved towards the interest rate as its indirect monetary policy instrument, namely through issuing central bank paper (''certificados de participacion''), with prices determined at auction. The macroeconomic situation suffered a major shock in 2003 with the banking crisis and subsequent bail out by the BCRD, which guaranteed all Baninter (one of the major banks that failed) deposits and providing liquidity to two other banks at a total cost to the budget equivalent to 21 percent of the GDP. The banking crisis led to a major capital flight, a sharp currency depreciation, high inflation and significant

fiscal Fiscal usually refers to government finance. In this context, it may refer to: Economics * Fiscal policy, use of government expenditure to influence economic development * Fiscal policy debate * Fiscal adjustment, a reduction in the government pr ...

pressures (exacerbated by an ongoing electricity crisis), together creating large macroeconomic imbalances and an environment of uncertainty and perceived risk. In October 2003 the BCRD raised the commission on foreign exchange transactions for purchasing imported goods to 10 percent and subsequently to 13 percent at the beginning of 2005.Dominican Republic: Review of Trade and Labor Competitiveness, World Bank 2005

Governors

* Jesús María Troncoso, 1947 - 1951 * Wenceslao Troncoso, 1951 - 1952 * Manuel Ruiz Tejada, 1952 - 1953 * José Ernesto García, 1953 *

S. Salvador Ortiz S is the nineteenth letter of the English alphabet. S may also refer to: History * an Anglo-Saxon charter's number in Peter Sawyer's, catalogue Language and linguistics * Long s (ſ), a form of the lower-case letter s formerly used where "s ...

, 1953 - 1954 * José Joaquín Gómez, 1954 - 1956 * Milton Messina, 1956 - 1957 * Arturo Despradel, 1957 - 1958 *

Juan A. Morales ''Juan'' is a given name, the Spanish and Manx versions of '' John''. It is very common in Spain and in other Spanish-speaking communities around the world and in the Philippines, and also (pronounced differently) in the Isle of Man. In Spanish, ...

, 1958 * Virgilio Álvarez Sánchez, 1958 - 1959 *

Oscar G. Ginebra Henríquez Oscar, OSCAR, or The Oscar may refer to: People * Oscar (given name), an Irish- and English-language name also used in other languages; the article includes the names Oskar, Oskari, Oszkár, Óscar, and other forms. * Oscar (Irish mythology), ...

, 1958 - 1960 *

Manuel V. Ramos Manuel may refer to: People * Manuel (name) * Manuel (Fawlty Towers), a fictional character from the sitcom ''Fawlty Towers'' * Charlie Manuel, manager of the Philadelphia Phillies * Manuel I Komnenos, emperor of the Byzantine Empire * Manu ...

, 1960 - 1961 *

Silvestre Alba de Moya Silvestre is a Spanish and Portuguese given name or surname, or a French surname. Notable people with the name include: Surname * Cindy Silvestre (born 1993), a French kickboxer *Franck Silvestre (born 1967), a retired French footballer * Israe ...

, 1961 *

A. Amado Hernández A is the first letter of the Latin and English alphabet. A may also refer to: Science and technology Quantities and units * ''a'', a measure for the attraction between particles in the Van der Waals equation * A value, ''A'' value, a mea ...

, 1961 - 1962 * José Joaquín Gómez, 1962 - 1963 * Diógenes H. Fernández, 1963 - 1976 * Fernando Periche, 1976 - 1978 * Eduardo Fernández, 1978 - 1980 * Carlos Despradel, 1980 - 1982 *

Bernardo Vega Julio Bernardo Vega de Boyrie (born February 23, 1938), most known as Bernardo Vega, is a Dominican people (Dominican Republic), Dominican academic and politician. Early life Bernardo Vega was born in Santiago de los Caballeros, Dominican Republ ...

, 1982 - 1984 *

José Santos Taveras José is a predominantly Spanish and Portuguese form of the given name Joseph. While spelled alike, this name is pronounced differently in each language: Spanish ; Portuguese (or ). In French, the name ''José'', pronounced , is an old vernacu ...

, 1984 *

Hugo Guiliani Cury Hugo or HUGO may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Hugo'' (film), a 2011 film directed by Martin Scorsese * Hugo Award, a science fiction and fantasy award named after Hugo Gernsback * Hugo (franchise), a children's media franchise based on a ...

, 1984 - 1986 *

Luis Julián Pérez Luis is a given name. It is the Spanish form of the originally Germanic name or . Other Iberian Romance languages have comparable forms: (with an accent mark on the i) in Portuguese and Galician, in Aragonese and Catalan, while is archai ...

, 1986 - 1987 *

Roberto Saladín The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of '' Hruod'' ( non, Hróðr) "fame, glory, honou ...

, 1987 - 1989 *

Guillermo Caram Guillermo () is the Spanish form of the male given name William. The name is also commonly shortened to 'Guille' or, in Latin America, to nickname 'Memo'. People *Guillermo Amor (born 1967), Spanish football manager and former player *Guillermo Ar� ...

, 1989 - 1990 *

Luis F. Toral Córdoba Luis is a given name. It is the Spanish form of the originally Germanic name or . Other Iberian Romance languages have comparable forms: (with an accent mark on the i) in Portuguese and Galician, in Aragonese and Catalan, while is archai ...

, 1990 - 1993 *

Mario Read Vittini Mario Antonio Read Vittini (1926–2010) was a politician and diplomat from the Dominican Republic. Biography Mario Antonio Read Vittini was born in Hatillo, near San Cristóbal, on 15 May 1926. From his father, he descends from William Augustus ...

, 1993 - 1994 *

, 1994 - 2000 *

Francisco Guerrero Prats-Ramírez Francisco is the Spanish and Portuguese form of the masculine given name ''Franciscus''. Nicknames In Spanish, people with the name Francisco are sometimes nicknamed "Paco". San Francisco de Asís was known as ''Pater Comunitatis'' (father of ...

, 2000 - 2003 *

José Lois Malkún José is a predominantly Spanish and Portuguese form of the given name Joseph. While spelled alike, this name is pronounced differently in each language: Spanish ; Portuguese (or ). In French, the name ''José'', pronounced , is an old vernacul ...

, 2003 - 2004 *

, 2004 -

Notes

External links