What is the Dominican Republic Peso (DOP)?

Credit Ratings & Outlook

In the latest credit ratings from December 1970, Moody's gives Dominican Republic a B1 rating, with a stable outlook. Fitch has a positive outlook with a B rating. Finally, S&P last issued a B+ rating, with a stable outlook.

Sovereign credit ratings play an important part in determining a country’s access to international capital markets, and the terms of that access. Sovereign ratings help to foster dramatic growth, stability, and efficiency of international and domestic markets.

GDP

In 2010 the total GDP was $51,766,377,245 in US Dollars, while the per capita GDP was $5,214. It grew by 7.75% over the previous year.

Unemployment

The latest unemployment rate for 2010 is 9.99%.

Consumer Price Index

The latest consumer price index for 2010 is 136.27.

Political Structure

The current head of the government is President Leonel FernándezPresident-elect Danilo Medina, who is also the head of state (in an executive role).

Currency Details

The Dominican Peso is the base currency of the Dominican Republic. Denoted by DOP, the currency is often seen as $ or RD$ for distinction from other pesos or dollars. The peso is divided into 100 centavos (cents) and is under a managed float regime.

Travel Notes

When traveling to the Dominican Republic, one should be aware of the various restrictions placed on currency imports and exports, namely:

Import and export of Dominican Pesos is restricted to amounts under 20,000.
Import and export of foreign currency of amounts over 10,000 USD must be declared.

Moody’s Rating

Ba2

S&P Rating

BB-

What does it look like?

Political Structure

The political structure of the Dominican Republic is known as a “representative democracy,” where national power is divided amongst independent executive, legislative, and judicial branches. The president, also commander-in-chief of the armed forces, appoints the cabinet and executes laws passed by the legislative branch. The president and vice president both run for office on the same ticket, and are elected by direct vote for four-year terms.

The bicameral National Congress exercises legislative power. The Congress is comprised of the Senate (32 members) and the Chamber of Deputies (150 members). Presidential elections are held in years evenly divisible by four, while all other elections are held in even numbered years not so.

Prominent Figures

President: Leonel Fernandez Reyna
Prime Ministe: Rafael Alburquerque de Castro
Ambassador to the US: Flavio Dario Espinal Jacobo
Governor, Central Bank: Hector Valez Albizu

Key Economic Factors

Economic Overview:

The Dominican Republic, a representative democracy of the Caribbean, enjoyed strong GDP growth of more than 7% in 1998-2000 (which later plummeted as part of the global economic slowdown). Although the country has been viewed for many years as mainly an exporter of sugar, coffee and tobacco, recent years have displayed a change: the service sector has overtaken agriculture as the economy’s largest employer, due to growth in tourism and free trade zones. The Dominican Republic suffers from large income inequality, as the poorest half of the population receives less than one fifth of the GNP, while the richest 10% enjoys almost 40% of the national income. To restore recently disturbed economic stability, the nation hopes for a much-needed loan from the IMF. President Fernandez, in 2004 (soon after his election), promised great reform. His administration has passed tax reform, and is working to meet preconditions for a $600 IMF standby arrangement to improve the country’s fiscal situation.