The Diario Libre newspaper reports this morning that the International Monetary Fund is indicating that the “technical level understanding” reached with the Dominican government (as reported in yesterday’s DR1 news) is not yet a sealed deal. According to a communique issued yesterday, also published on the IMF’s website, several conditions need to be met, including what is described as “efficiency and transparency” in the currency exchange sector. Only then will the next promised disbursement on the US$600-million support package be authorized. Marcelo Figuerola, the IMF mission chief, is quoted in the communique as saying: “The mission has reached a broad agreement with the Dominican authorities on the main elements of the Letter of Intent for the upcoming review under the two-year Stand-By Arrangement with the Fund. In the coming weeks, the authorities plan to move ahead with a number of macroeconomic policy and structural measures of critical importance to the success of the program. These include the adoption of a strong budget for 2004, a plan to improve the financial position of the electricity sector, improved monetary control, and steps to ensure the efficient and transparent functioning of the foreign exchange market. Once these key measures are implemented, and financing assurances from official creditors are secured, it is expected that the Letter of Intent can be finalized and circulated to the IMF’s Executive Board for early consideration.” For the full text of the communique, go to http://www.imf.org/