Above: Central Bank Governor Hector Valdez Albizu

By the Caribbean Journal staff

The Dominican Republic now has a “stable” financial system that allows monetary policy to focus on targeting inflation without being deflected by issues related to the health of the system itself, Central Bank Governor Hector Valdez Albizu said Friday.

The Govenor was speaking at the opening of a seminar on Latin America’s experience in targeting inflation.

Albizu said that the Bank first authorized a monetary policy framework based on inflation targeting in December 2011, and began formally operating under that strategy in January.

There are currently 28 countries worldwide that have adopted inflation-targeting strategy, Albizu said, meaning a monetary policy characterized by the Central Bank achieving a quantitative target for inflation and taking into account one or more horizons for compliance with those goals.

Since 2005, with the help of experts from central banks in emerging and developed countries and the International Monetary Fund, the Central Bank had incorporated technical changes necessary to operate the new scheme, he said.