Connections mean a lot -- And they can lead to different stories

The following is from Dominican Today, an English language web site that summarizes the main news in the Dominican Republic.

Besides looking at the issues raised in this article, think also about what would happen if the Dominican economy does not grow and improve. Where do you think all the Dominicans looking for work will go? Certainly not neighboring Haiti.

They will go where they already have friends and relatives to help them get settled.

Factoid: There are an estimated 8.5 million Dominicans in the world. The Dominican Republic has 6 million of that population. One million are in the United States. And about 800,000 of that 1 million are in the New York City area.

Threat of recession on U.S. economy also endangers Dominican finances

SANTO DOMINGO.- The threat of recession which according to international organisms and analysts affects the United States economy also endangers Dominican finances.

Dominican trade and balances of payment’s great dependency on the U.S. economy implies a potentially high risk, in the event financial upheavals materialize, sparked by the impact of rising oil prices, in real estate and the financial crisis of defaulted mortgage payments.

The Dominican economy’s most dynamic sectors, such as tourism, remittances and the free zones, have a link as high as more than 80 percent with the United States. As services, they are highly vulnerability in times of reduced spending, one of the direct consequences in a recession. A fourth sector, which could also bee affected and has great impact on the balance of payments and internally to generate exports, is that of foreign investment. Though somewhat cyclical, the United States is the main provider of foreign capital, in free zones as well as directly.

As the expression that “if the U.S. economy sneezes Dominican catches a cold,” recession or deceleration can affect Dominican Republic, at least in the flow of remittances from relatives abroad, the country’s second largest source of currency. According to the Inter-American Development Bank (I.D.B.) the country receives 77 percent of remittances from the U.S.

As noted by the expression “if the U.S. economy sneezes Dominican catches a cold,” recession or deceleration can affect Dominican Republic, at least in the flow of remittances from relatives abroad, the country’s second largest source of currency. According to the Inter-American Development Bank (I.D.B.) the country receives 77 percent of remittances from the U.S.

In 2007 Dominicans received US$2.99 billion from relatives abroad, a relative increase of 9 percent compared with the previous year.