Buying/Repatriating Dollars

[Porfio_Rubirosa]

I have heard that, as a result of the economic crisis, sometimes dollars cannot be purchased from banks or exchange houses at all. Or, that if they can be purchased, it can be at rates that are much higher than those established by the Cental Bank.

Can any businesspeople comment on the availability of dollars for pesos?

Also, though I know that there are no legal restrictions on the repatriation of funds to the US, are there any practical restrictions that I should know about (e.g. the bank sits on the transfer for 30 days, or the government temporarily restricts it)?

Thanks in advance.

[Dolores]

From time to time in the past two years there have been blackout periods when the banks do not have dollars for sale and it is necessary to buy them from exchange houses or agents at higher rates than those established at the commercial banks (Central Bank). This has been true even for the larger clients of the banks.

Regarding practical restrictions on money transfers...

The restrictions today will depend primarily on your bank. For instance, the last time we used the services of Bancredito, it was a 30 working day delay before we had access to funds from a check issued on a US bank that would have cleared in under five days had it been deposited in the US.

Regarding government temporary restrictions -- rules have been changing and are expected to continue to change. It is no secret the government's foreign debt has more than doubled in the past three years, the government has taken on responsibility for failed local banks and the failed power distribution companies, etc. In the past two years there has been major capital flight as companies and individuals showed they did not trust what the government would do next.

The effect of the announced full open foreign exchange market is yet to be seen. These are good times for tourism (bringing in lots of US$), and importing is down (which means less demand for purchases by businesses and individuals), so not necessarily will the exchange rate go up much more than it already has. Confidence needs to be restored, but what we are hearing from the government is that re-election is a priority of the administration. I have always been told that sheer expectations can drive a market. Anyone's call.

[tonsoffun]

we as a business always have dollars availbale for pesos and you contact me if you are interested we are in santo domingo

[Escott]

I will be needing a lot of pesos when I return on the 5th. Why not cash in your pesos with me? I can then kick your ass for not listening in other threads

Seriously if you need dollars I will look for between 5-10 thousand dollars worth of pesos.

[Porfio_Rubirosa]

Scott,

You and I both saw the disaster coming early on. No, I wasn't crazy enough to hold onto pesos.

Actually, the purpose for my question relates to a foreign business with which I'm associated that is interested in investing in the DR, but which will ultimately need to take out profits in dollars. So the need would actually be for a steady supply of dollars for pesos - say US$2,500 per week - at competitive rates.

I have to admit that, as of now, the DR looks like a bad investment. Our money will likely end up in Panama, Netherlands Antilles, Trinidad and maybe El Salvador. Smaller potential, but much less risk.