The passing of the National Budget could be delayed by the Chamber of Deputies. The Partido Reformista Social Cristiano, the party with the majority in the Chamber of Deputies, is allying with interests of contractors favored with construction works in the previous Balaguer administration who are demanding payment of monies owed. The PRSC deputies want RD$500 million to be included in the budget to pay the contractors. Furthermore, Hector Peguero Méndez, president of the Chamber, says that the government in talks did not include the monies requested by the Chamber of Deputies to pay for the 29 new deputies that will enter the Chamber as of August 1998. The number of deputies fluctuates with the nation’s population. Peguero Méndez had said earlier the chamber would pass the budget before the Christmas break.
