The International Monetary Fund wants the Dominican Republic to reduce its spending, strengthen the Central Bank and sell off the assets of the collapsed banks. According to El Caribe, Jose Fajgenbaum, the sub-director for the IMF’s Western Hemisphere Department, recommended an even greater reduction of government expenditures. Regarding the stalled Stand By Accord that is being discussed again, Fajgenbaum said that “we have made plenty of progress this week and I have confidence that we will make even more.” The IMF official was one of the participants at the get-together hosted by President Leonel Fernandez and his economic team at Casa de Campo in La Romana. The meeting was organized under the auspices of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and was headed by Enrique Iglesias, the IDB chief executive. Also attending the meeting was Guillermo Perry, World Bank’s chief economist for Latin America. The participants pointed out that the DR had to pull off a fiscal readjustment that would, in their words, “establish the public debt, guarantee macro-economic stability and protect social spending.” The group also felt that, although a new tax package has just recently been put into effect, additional steps need to be taken. President Fernandez said that the Central Bank was working on the legal questions regarding the sale of the bankrupt institutions’ assets, as well as other properties and assets it has in its possession. In his recommendations, Fajgenbaum said that one of the things that would help strengthen the Central Bank would be to extend the tenure of its officials and to adopt the best international criteria for evaluating assets.