The Dominican Republic once again demonstrated its regional leadership in economic matters by successfully concluding its participation at the head of the pro tempore presidency of the Council of Ministers of Finance of Central America and Panama (Cosefin), from where it promoted fiscal resilience and technical exchange in an effort to guarantee the sustainability of public finances.
The list of achievements reached by the country during the leadership of this organization corresponding to the first semester of 2026 was presented at the LVIII Ordinary Meeting of Cosefin in Guatemala City, in which the Dominican Vice Minister of Fiscal Policy, Camila Hernández, intervened.
In this space, the official highlighted as one of the main milestones of the administration the initial implementation of the Regional Strategy for Financial Management for Disaster Risk Reduction (RSFMDRR); the installation of the Committee of Directors of Tax Administrations (CDAT); the strengthening of harmonized fiscal statistics and the promotion of regional technical spaces on transfer pricing; fiscal management in the face of rising fuel prices; public spending on disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation, as well as results-oriented budgeting.
“Moving towards more resilient financial management is not just a technical priority. It is a condition for better protecting our populations, for planning further ahead, and for reducing the fiscal impact of the risks we face as a region,” explained Hernández, while warning about the challenge that extreme weather events pose to the sustainability of public finances.
After announcing these initiatives, the pro tempore presidency was transferred from the Ministry of Finance and Economy of the Dominican Republic to the Ministry of Economic Transformation of Belize, which will hold this position in the second half of 2026.
In general, the pro tempore presidency of the Dominican Republic before Cosefin was focused on promoting an agenda oriented towards fiscal coordination, the modernization of public finances, regional tax cooperation, and the implementation of key instruments approved by the Council.
“We hand over the pro tempore presidency with the satisfaction of having contributed to an active regional agenda, aimed at strengthening fiscal resilience, tax cooperation, institutional modernization, and joint work between our countries,” highlighted Hernández during the handover ceremony.
The LVIII Ordinary Meeting allowed for the reaffirmation of Cosefin’s role as one of the main spaces for dialogue, coordination, and joint action among the region’s Ministries of Finance or Treasury.
Currently, the members of this body are the heads of the Ministry of Public Finance of Guatemala, the Ministry of Finance of El Salvador, the Secretariat of Finance of Honduras, the Ministry of Finance of Costa Rica, the Ministry of Finance and Economy of the Dominican Republic, the Ministry of Finance and Public Credit of Nicaragua, and the Ministry of Economy and Finance of Panama.
