A spokesman for the International Monetary Fund stressed that fiscal reform was of equal importance as the restructuring of the electricity and banking systems. Improving the administration of public funds was also an essential factor in the country’s recovery, in the organization’s opinion. The Fund expressed confidence in the new government’s commitment to reform with the following statement: “President Fernandez is determined to proceed with institutional reforms and coherent economic policies”. Several newspaper editorials address the issue of good governance in their columns. Manuel Jose Cabral in El Caribe makes several suggestions aimed at helping the new President to reduce public spending, including cutting down on the number of public employees, a proposal for reducing numbers through natural wastage (not replacing an employee who retires, resigns or dies) except in the case of essential posts, and establishing targets for this purpose. Cabral also suggests reforming the way government contracts are allocated, by submitting them to genuine public tender, and ends by saying, “Some of these measures were recommended to former President Mejia without success. We hope that President Fernandez will embrace them.” Hoy’s Rafael Molina Morillo in his “Mis buenos dias” column recounts an Arab fable that tells of two boys, one rich and the other poor. As the two were returning home from the market, the poor boy was carrying a loaf of dry bread while the rich boy had some honey-coated biscuits. The rich boy told the poor boy that if he wanted one of his biscuits he had to get down on all fours and imitate a dog. The poor boy did so and was given a biscuit. A sage observing the scene commented: “If this poor boy had any dignity, he would find a way of earning the money. Instead, he prefers to turn himself into the rich boy’s dog in order to eat the biscuits. Tomorrow, when he is older, he’ll do the same thing for a public appointment, and will be capable of anything, including betraying his people and his country for money.” The column ends with the writer’s comment: “That’s how the story ends. I was left wondering how many people I know must have imitated the dog when they were children”.