1) Executive Summary Report on the Economy of the Dominican Republic January-June 2015 During the January-June 2015 period, the Dominican economy grew by 6.4% as compared to the same period last year. This remarkable growth rate puts the country in a leadership position in terms of economic performance in Latin America in the first half of the year, surpassing the economic growth of Bolivia (4.7%), Guatemala (4.1%), Panama (4.0%), Colombia (3.7 %), Honduras (3.6%), Paraguay (3.3%) and Nicaragua (3.3%), while the rest of the countries in the region are growing at an annual rate below 3.0 percent. These results, coupled with the fact that the trend-cycle of the Monthly Indicator of Economic Activity (IMAE) showed a year-on-year growth of 6.1% for June, are a hopeful sign that economic growth in 2015 should close above 6.0%, surpassing not only the 2015 Monetary Program’s projection of 4.5% -5.0%, but also recent forecasts made by the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF). In analyzing the economic performance for the January-June 2015 period, the following activities are highlighted: Construction (17.1%); Education (9.1%); Trade (8.1%); Financial Intermediation (6.5%); Public Administration (6.3%); Transport and Storage (5.9%); Health(5.7%); Energy and Water (5.6%); Hotels, Bars and Restaurants (5.3%); Local Manufacturing (4.8%) and Agriculture (3.5%). These activities account for 81.9% of growth during the period. Performance for January-June 2015 is in line with an increase of 10.9% in the loan portfolio of the harmonized financial system, with emphasis on credit to the private sector, which grew by 16.2%year on year. During the reference period, loans to the productive sector grew by 13.7%, notably those granted to Construction (44.6%); Electricity, Gas, and Water (39.6%); Microenterprises (33.7%); and Manufacturing (12.2%); this is consistent with the growth experienced by the economy. As for the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) using the expenditure approach, it can be seen that growth in the first half was sustained by the expansion of domestic demand, mainly the increase of 16.1% in gross fixed capital formation and 4.4% in final consumption. Regarding external demand, exports of goods and services increased by 1.8% in real terms, whereas imports of goods and services increased by 9.5% in the shown period. Cumulative inflation for the first six months of 2015 was 0.60%, lower by almost one percentage point than the 1.56% corresponding to the same prior-year period. Year on year inflation from June 2014 to June 2015 stood at 0.62%, considerably lower than the annualized rate of 3.68% registered in mid-2014, and remaining the lowest in nondollarized countries in Latin America. Regarding the monetary sector, it is important to note the decisions taken by the Central Bank to ease the monetary policy stance, by the reduction of a total of 125 basis points in the Monetary Policy Rate (MPR) in March, April and May, dropping 

2) to 5.00% per annum. These policy decisions were based on two fundamental factors: reduced inflationary pressures, which are maintaining this variable below the target on the policy horizon; and the impact that the observed increase in nominal and real market interest rates would have on private credit and economic activity. Preliminary balance of payments results for the first half of 2015 show a positive performance for the external sector, with a current account surplus of US$17.8 million. This favorable result is based on the sustained fall in international prices for oil and its derivatives, which has been reflected in a decrease of US$593.9 million in the oil bill for the period, as well as the outstanding performance for tourism related income (an increase of 9.1% year-on-year), in line with the economic performance of the economies from which we receive the greatest number of non-resident travelers. It is important to note that the decrease of 29.6% in the oil bill is derived exclusively from the decline in the import price, since the volume of imported oil products increased by 18.6%, in line with the momentum shown by the Dominican economy in the first half of the year. This also explains the increase of US$288.1 million, or 4.5%, registered for non-oil imports. Regarding the fiscal accounts, in the first six months of 2015, Central Government financial transactions showed a surplus of RD$53,934.9 million, influenced significantly by the increase in grants, mainly due to the discounted debt buy-back of 98% of the outstanding debt corresponding to the Petrocaribe Program. It should be noted that tax revenues, net of grants, increased by 6.4% compared to the first half of 2014, which is in line with the estimates, while expenditures grew by 11.8% compared to the same prior-year period. During the first half of 2015, the Dominican financial sector kept a steady growth of its lending and borrowing transactions, with annual increases of 11.0% and 11.1%, respectively, as well as increased levels of loan portfolio quality and profitability. This performance was influenced by the easing of the Central Bank’s monetary policy stance. In fact, through June 2015, the financial sector accumulated net profits of RD$12,669.6 million, higher by RD$1,561.8 million, or 14.1%, than the profits in the same prior-year period. This produced a return on average equity (ROE) of 17.3% and a return on average assets (ROA) of 2.02%.