Advance news reports say that a group of the incoming PLD government economists are proposing an increase of the ITBIS (VAT) tax from 12% to 16%. These economists would prefer not to extend the tax to items that are presently not covered by the tax. The PLD experts say they need to find resources for RD$22 billion to make up for the additional deficit of this year. Daniel Toribio, a former finance minister in the 1996-2000 Fernandez administration and member of the PLD transitional team, said the IMF would allow the government to run a 3.8% GDP fiscal deficit this year. But, he said, government spending this year has ballooned so greatly that this number would reach 6.8% of GDP by the end of the year, a scenario obliges the transitional team to brainstorm from where the resources to cover the additional Mejia government spending will emanate.