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Frequently Asked Questions


  • Debt is defined as a financial claim that requires payment(s) of interest and/or principal by the debtor to the creditor at a date, or dates in the future.
  • Public debt refers to the obligations that result from credit operations contracted by institutions that make up the public sector.

  1. The operation has to be contemplated in the National General Budget or in a specific law.
  2. Have a special power granted by the Executive Power giving the authorization to sign the correspondent legal documentation.
  3. In the case of project financing, the project has to be evaluated by the General Directorate of Public Investment.

The relationship between the nominal value of the debt and the gross domestic product of a country (GDP) is the most commonly used indicator to measure a country's level of indebtedness:

  1. Allows comparison of the level in different periods.
  2. Allows comparison between countries.

In the context of debt sustainability, the main condition to be met is solvency. This implies that the government can meet its credit obligations without recourse to debt restructuring, high inflation to dilute the value of the debt or non-payment (default). A fiscal and sustainable debt policy is one that can be maintained indefinitely, without affecting the solvency of the government, that is, its ability to pay.

To determine if the debt is sustainable, the evolution of the projected debt as a percentage of GDP is analyzed under different scenarios, evaluating if the debt maintains the solvency condition even in the presence of unfavorable events (Ex .: contraction of economic activity, unanticipated increase in international fuel prices, etc.). While the path of the Debt-GDP ratio, in the medium and long term, is decreasing, or stabilizes around some value, it can be considered that the debt is sustainable. However, if the debt (as a % of GDP) maintains a growing trajectory in an explosive manner, where stabilization of its growth rate is not expected, this could jeopardize the payment of the debt service and the debt would be considered unsustainable.

The Government's financing needs are determined mainly by the Government's budget balance, that is, the revenues to be received minus the expenses to be incurred, as well as by the estimation of financial applications for the year (includes amortizations / principal payment of the debt).

The process begins with the identification of the needs of resources of all the institutions of the public sector given their different functions, which is the expenses estimation for the year. In addition, the Government estimate of tax and non-tax revenue for the same period. When operating with a deficit (revenues lower than expenditures), the difference as to be financed in order to obtain the resources needed by the various State agencies to provide the different services to the population.

Funding for investment projects is mostly obtained through the contracting of loans whose resources, as the name implies, are used for the execution of investment projects such as the construction of highways, schools, hospitals, hydroelectric, among others. The financing contracts are for each specific project, and the Government receives the resources as the project execution progresses.

Funding for budget support can come from bond issues or the contracting of loans with bilateral or multilateral agencies, and the resources go to the National Treasury to cover expenditure under the State Budget of any sector (eg education, health, citizen security).

Bonds are the main source of financing for governments because of their flexibility in execution and nature of the market. This means that the volumes that can be accessed in the markets are much higher than the volumes of financing with a bilateral or multilateral institution.

The capital markets are financed by multiple creditors worldwide who provide resources, while financing with bilateral or multilateral agencies is limited by cooperation agreements, the country strategy, resources defined by the agency, to the capital shares that the country has in the multilateral institution, among others.

On the other hand, price formation (obtaining the rate on which interest is paid) is more transparent and less costly for issuers that the ones of loans with commercial banks. This means that all nations with access to markets (international and / or local) use this source of financing more than multilateral organizations or commercial banks.

Pension fund administrators, local commercial banks, non-residents, as well as brokerage firms and individuals.

Updated information of bondholders can be found at the following link: http://www.creditopublico.gov.do/test/english/bonds_issuance/domestic

As a natural person, the first thing you should do is go to the securities intermediary or brokerage firm of your choice and open a brokerage account. Once you have a brokerage account you can start investing in public debt securities. The financial advisors of these financial institutions will inform you about the options of instruments to invest in, either in the auctions (Primary Market) or buying the securities directly from your intermediary or from another investor that already has securities under its power (Secondary Market).

To participate in the auctions of the Ministry of Finance, you can place your positions through the intermediary or brokerage firm in which you have your brokerage account, provided that it belongs to the Market Makers Program of the Ministry, otherwise, you must open a brokerage account with an intermediary that is part of the program.

To know the institutional investors that are part of the Market Makers Program, access the monthly classification of the participants in the program, which is published on the Public Debt Office website. The most updated version of the classification can be found at the following link:

http://www.creditopublico.gov.do/test/english/home/capital_market

The securities issued by the Public Debt Office of the Ministry of Finance are considered a sovereign debt; therefore, they have the government’s guarantee.

The Medium-Term Public Debt Management Strategy describes the main strategic guidelines that will guide the management of public debt, among which we can highlight:

  1. Development of the Domestic Capital Market, with the objective to increase the proportion of local currency financing within the total financing of the Government, thus mitigating the exchange rate risk, and reducing the cost of such financing.
  2. Diversification of Financing Sources: Access to different markets and instruments, with the objective of having different options when designing the government's financing policy, allowing choosing the most cost and risk efficient financing sources combination.
  3. Maintain long terms of domestic and external bonds, thus managing the refinancing risk.
  4. Structure smoother debt maturities profile, to reduce the fiscal pressures due to debt service in a specific year and/or month, using customized repayment profiles, including bullet payments.
  5. Proactive debt portfolio management through the execution of liability management operations that reduce the cost of debt service, re-structure the maturity profile, and others.

The government's medium-term debt management strategy is available in the following link: http://www.creditopublico.gov.do/test/english/home/public_debt_strategy

The current Debt Management Strategy establishes a strategic goal of a range of 77% ± 3% of debt denominated in foreign currency. This is the target proposed for the medium term, however, in the long term the idea is to continue strengthening the local market so that it becomes the main financing source of the Government, thus obtaining a more balanced percentage, always taking into account the average cost of the portfolio.

The risk rating assesses the risk of default and the solvency of an issuer. There are several rating agencies being the main ones: Standard and Poor's, Moody's and Fitch Ratings.

Investors take into consideration these ratings in their decision to invest/purchase government securities, it may influence their decision to acquire or not the instruments offered, as well as the amount, and the rate of interest / yield at which would they will be willing to buy them for.

The ratings are divided into two groups: investment grade (BBB or higher), speculative grade (BB or lower). An investment grade rating indicates that the government has the capacity to sustain a coherent policy framework, with good economic, financial and institutional strength, and without concern about its ability to repay its debt.

Rating agencies evaluate the credit quality of a sovereign by combining both quantitative and qualitative factors. Each agency publishes a report explaining the reasons for the assigned rating and identifies issues or circumstances that improve or limit credit quality.

Among the factors analyzed to determine the credit rating of a country, we can mention:

  1. Economic recovery capacity of the country. Economic strength, measured by GDP per capita, diversification of the economy (sectors), among others.
  2. Financial solidity of the Government. Analysis of public finances. Analyzing the repayment schedule (and how "tolerable" is the debt compared to their resources) and the government's ability to mobilize resources: increase taxes, cut spending, sell assets, and earn foreign exchange.
  3. Susceptibility to risk events. Determining whether debt repayment capacity is highly affected in the event of adverse economic, financial or political events.
  4. Institutional strength (transparency, effectiveness, predictability of government action, control of corruption, political stability).

  1. Webpage (www.creditopublico.gov.do).
  2. Institutional mail (infodeuda@creditopublico.gov.do
  3. Office of free access of information of the Ministry of Finance.
  4. Social media

The figures of the public debt service are available in the statistics section of the Public Debt Office website: http://www.creditopublico.gov.do/test/english/home/statistic y en particular en los siguientes archivos:

  1. Non Financial Public Debt / Evolution
  2. Monthly External Debt Service Evolution of the Non Financial Public Sector
  3. Monthly External Debt Service Evolution of the Non Financial Public Sector

On our website, you can find the files that contain all the settled transactions with the Ministry of Finance securities, including the information of the amount and price / rate to which these operations were agreed. This price data serves as a general reference of the levels to which each title is being negotiated, but as with any good that you wish to buy, it is always advisable to quote the prices in different financial intermediaries that are offering them to debug which is offering the best price.

The financial conditions (term, coupon rate) of the instruments to be auctioned by the Ministry of Finance can be found in the Invitation for Competitive Auction, document published on the website in the auction section, accessing the following link: http://www.creditopublico.gov.do/test/english/bonds_issuance/domestic

The results of the auctions carried out each month are published in this section, presenting information such as, offered instruments, offers received, accepted, price and yield allocated, among others.



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