In Latin America, the Dominican Republic dominates the region as well as the Caribbean in terms of economic development.

According to Latino Fox News, Central Bank Governor Hector Valdez largely associated the dominance in the significant drop on international oil price as well the U.S.' strengthening economy. The strong U.S. economy, according to Valdez, significantly contributed in the development of tourism in the Dominican Republic as well as the increased on remittances in the country.

For the last two years, the Dominican Republic economy thrived on a seven percent annual increase on Gross Domestic Product. The Gross Domestic Product stats also revealed that they were mostly generated from banking, tourism and construction.

 

The economic growth of the Dominican Republic, according to Valdez, has been extremely satisfying compared to other countries in the Latin American region, given how most of them struggle to revive and increase their economic stand.

Despite falling below the targeted four percent inflation rate, the Dominican Republic exceeded at least $23 billion, all coming from consolidated services such as remittances and tourism export of either goods or service. Foreign investments have also been one of the key factors that helped the Dominican Republic stay on top of the economic battle.

Despite the promising economic stability in the Dominican Republic, Valdez also implied that the poor population of the country has not experienced the said economic development. The majority of the population is still unable to get jobs with proper labor wage in order to buy their basic needs.

While the Dominican Republic greatly excelled on that level, it was still not enough to carry the Latin American region to a new level of economic freedom. Even with Panama gaining six percent in GDP last year, analysts believe that Latin America may face zero increase on their economic state. They also cited the year 2017 to 2018 to be the year when the region will actually see some improvement with at least 2.2 percent potential growth.

Meanwhile, the Dominican Republic has tightened their borders in order to halt the increasing number of Haitians trying to enter their state. According to the Jamaica Observer, at least 900 troops were dispatched in order to secure the border. Operation Shield was formed after undocumented Haitians surged to the border. Immigration Agency supervisor Rafael M. Vasquez said that they are not preventing Haitians from coming in, provided that they have the right documents to provide the border patrol.