In a welcome step towards enhancing transparency in the country, the newly enhanced Ministry of Finance (MoF) website of the Dominican Republic has improved the organization and availability of economic information relevant to investors.

Comprehensive data on the country's external and public sector liabilities and central government operations is now available to investors interested in the Dominican Republic.

The Dominican Republic provides investors with amortization schedules for the country's public sector debt. Furthermore, historical time series are available and data follow a quarterly publication schedule, in line with market-standards.

The Public Credit General office within the MoF has created an English section for the "Public Debt" component in the MoF's website. The availability of economic information in market-friendly format is an important step towards meeting market standard data transparency practices. In this regard, authorities would benefit from augmenting the availability of information in English to reach a broader investor audience.

Improvements in data dissemination are accompanied by an investor-friendly website and a user-friendly format to access fiscal and debt statistics. The website allows for web-based communication with the Dominican authorities via an email bot to: infodeuda@creditopublico.gov.do. The Dominican Republic now satisfies the requirements for the following criteria: effective data transparency of market relevant data (+2); government agency websites available in English (+3); Macroeconomic data are presented in market-friendly format (+2); web-based communication with investors (+2); senior policymakers' participation in IR activities (+2), investor feedback factored into policy decisions (+3).

Progress thus far is welcome and authorities are encouraged to continue focusing on meeting the IIF investor relations best practices standards. Other features of the enhanced website include a section for posting legal and regulatory information and the ability for investors to register for a website subscription, both elements available only in Spanish. As the authorities continue to improve their website, these features will become accessible to the broader investor community.

The ranking of the Dominican Republic in the IIF Investor Relations and Data Transparency index improved 14 points in prioritized terms, moving from 2 to a score of 16 out of a total of 38 points. The ranking in the IIF Data Dissemination Index improved 17 points in prioritized terms, moving from 13 to a score of 33 out of a total of 42 points.