Santo Domingo.– The Dominican Republic will receive an estimated $1.8 billion in loans from the World Bank, the Inter-American Development Bank and others to pay for projects related to education, health and energy, President Leonel Fernandez announced Friday in his annual Independence Day address to Congress.

The government also expects to save $1.9 billion this year as a result of falling food, fuel and commodity prices. However, Fernandez warned that the country would not be immune from the global crisis. “The Dominican Republic has been affected by the accumulation of adversities and calamities that extend across the planet as if it were a modern version of the Seven Plagues of Egypt,” he said.

Fernandez said the country entered 2009 with a strong economy after small increases in remittances and tourist arrivals. GDP grew 5.3 percent last year, slightly higher than the average for Latin America, he added. Remittances reached $3.1 billion, a 2.1 percent growth from 2007, while the number of tourist arrivals –nearly 4 million– grew 7 percent and generated $4.2 billion in revenue.

Fernandez also asked legislators, in a 12,700-word speech, to accept the results of a two-year constitutional revision project that includes changes to strengthen border security, protect the environment and alter the military's constitutional status.

The reform would guarantee “that under no circumstance the Dominican Republic will return to the dark days of dictatorship, abuse, trampling and arrogance of power,” he said. The country has had 31 constitutions in its history. The latest came in 2002, allowing presidents to serve more than one term.