Countries › Dominican Republic › Guide › 10. Capital markets and finance › Interest rates, usury and loan terms in the Dominican Republic

Interest rates, usury and loan terms in the Dominican Republic

Last verified: 2026-10-30 · Status: Stable

There is no interest rate cap: rates in pesos and foreign currency are set freely, and the old legal interest order was repealed. What the law regulates is disclosure: annual effective cost, contract content and abusive clauses. Debts are paid in the agreed currency, and interest on interest is banned for credit card financing.

USD figures use the Banco Central de la República Dominicana reference selling rate of RD$60.9007 per US dollar for 29 October 2026, rounded to the cent.

Key facts

Statutory usury or interest cap	None textLey 183-02 art. 24 and art. 91, as of 2026-10-30 · in force
Legal interest order	Repealed (Orden Ejecutiva 312 of 1919) textLey 183-02 art. 91, as of 2026-10-30 · repealed
Minimum reflection period before signing	24 hoursResolución JM 260319-03 art. 131, as of 2026-10-30 · in force
Reference selling rate used for USD conversions	60.9007 DOP per USDBanco Central reference rate, as of 2026-10-29 · in force

The rule

1. Interest rates for transactions in national and foreign currency are set freely among market agents.Ley 183-02 Monetaria y Financiera, art. 24, 2002-11-21 official text · verified 2026-10-30

2. Executive Order 312 of 1 July 1919 on legal interest is expressly repealed.Ley 183-02 Monetaria y Financiera, art. 91, 2002-11-21 official text · verified 2026-10-30

3. Interest, fees and charges of a new entity are never subject to Junta Monetaria start up limits. They are freely agreed, limited only by general contract rules and transparency and consumer protection rules.Ley 183-02 Monetaria y Financiera, art. 35 literal b, 2002-11-21 official text · verified 2026-10-30

4. Money debts are paid in the agreed currency and, failing express agreement, in national currency.Ley 183-02 Monetaria y Financiera, art. 24, 2002-11-21 official text · verified 2026-10-30

5. Entities must post interest rates, costs and fees in annual terms in offices open to the public. Charging items not expressly agreed, and oral contracts, are prohibited.Ley 183-02 Monetaria y Financiera, art. 52 literal b, 2002-11-21 official text · verified 2026-10-30

6. The user must receive a signed copy of the contract with the items of the effective cost, in annual terms, broken down as far as possible.Ley 183-02 Monetaria y Financiera, art. 53 literal b, 2002-11-21 official text · verified 2026-10-30

7. Costs and rates of products must be disclosed using the annual effective rate and the nominal rate.Reglamento de Protección al Usuario, Resolución JM 260319-03, art. 96, 2026-03-19 official text · verified 2026-10-30

8. Contracts state the total amount of the obligation, instalments, how payments are applied, the annual nominal rate and calculation method, rate revision clauses for variable rate loans, and the consequences of default and early payment with the calculation of any penalty.Reglamento de Protección al Usuario, Resolución JM 260319-03, art. 124 numeral 2.1, 2026-03-19 official text · verified 2026-10-30

9. Users have a reflection period of at least 24 hours before signing, running from delivery of the contract. The user may expressly choose a shorter period.Reglamento de Protección al Usuario, Resolución JM 260319-03, art. 131, 2026-03-19 official text · verified 2026-10-30

10. Lenders must assess payment capacity on sufficient information and avoid over indebtedness.Reglamento de Protección al Usuario, Resolución JM 260319-03, art. 101, 2026-03-19 official text · verified 2026-10-30

11. Credit card interest runs on the average daily unpaid principal balance, excluding interest, fees and other charges, and interest on interest generated by the financing is prohibited.Reglamento de Tarjetas de Crédito, Primera Resolución JM, art. 19, 2013-02-07 official text · verified 2026-10-30

12. Card fees (overdraft, late payment and cash advance) are freely agreed, but issuers may not charge extra fees for their own processing, account administration or statement costs.Reglamento de Tarjetas de Crédito, Primera Resolución JM, art. 22 and art. 24, 2013-02-07 official text · verified 2026-10-30

13. A microcredit is a credit to a person or company whose consolidated debt in the financial system does not exceed 50 minimum wages, with terms that generally do not exceed 36 months, or 72 in justified exceptional cases.Reglamento de Microcréditos, Primera Resolución JM, definitions literal v; characteristics literal e, 2018-05-17 official text · verified 2026-10-30

Worked example

A loan of RD$1,000,000 (US$16,420.17) at a nominal 18% a year paid monthly has a periodic rate of 1.5%. Its annual effective rate is 1.015 to the twelfth power minus 1, or 19.56%, before fees. Both rates must be disclosed to a user of a regulated entity. Simple interest for the year on the full balance would be RD$180,000 (US$2,955.63).

Step by step

State the currency, rate type and day count expressly.
Set the default rate and early payment terms in the contract, and do not rely on a statutory rate.
Disclose the annual effective rate when the lender is a regulated entity and the borrower a user.
Withhold and file on interest paid to non residents under the tax rules.

Common traps

With the 1919 legal interest order repealed, the contract should set the default rate. General contract rules still apply to rates and fees (art. 35 literal b).
The microcredit regulation prints the 2017 minimum wage of RD$15,447.60 as the unit, so use the current scale when applying the 50 wage test.
Foreign currency loans to non generators face separate limits, covered on the FX page.

Sources

← Deposit guarantee and bank failure in the Dominican RepublicSecurity over movable assets in the Dominican Republic: the Ley 45-20 system →

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