President Hip?lito Mej?a said yesterday on the weekly TV program, Una Vez por Semana, that only Central Bank Governor Jose Lois Malkum and Technical Secretary of the Presidency Carlos Despradel are authorized to speak for the government. Mej?a also said the country has not requested financial aid from the US Treasury Department, as reported earlier, but confirmed that efforts are underway to secure assistance from the International Monetary Fund. He insisted that the country has already implemented 90% of the measures the IMF would require in exchange for the assistance. ?The Dominican Republic does not have to submit to the hateful regulations of years before, because we have taken all the measures?[and] we are in a very good position,? said Mej?a, adding that, ?The IMF doesn?t scare me.? He said the talks would continue with the IMF, the Inter American Development Bank and the World Bank.