In a meeting that lasted several hours, the government’s Economic Cabinet and the IMF delegation currently in country hashed out the structure of the 2005 budget law. Sources close to the action told Hoy newspaper that there were hopes that the negotiations would be finalized by week’s end. One source said there had been “significant advances” towards establishing an agreement by the end of this month. The government team included the ministers closest to the President, as well as the governor of the Central Bank and top technicians from the Ministry of Finance. Steve Phillips headed the IMF team. The PLD government squad had structured a budget for 2005 that neared the RD$150-billion mark. The source told Hoy that each of the different items was examined and that a final decision would be made shortly.