The Dominican government is projecting an income of RD$180 billion during fiscal 2005, but the budgets submitted by its various departments still manage to surpass such a lofty figure. This was what Presidential Minister for Technical Affairs Temistocles Montas told the press yesterday. He said that a high-level commission departed for Washington yesterday, where they will hold talks with the IMF to see if the next few days can produce a letter of intent to resume the stand by agreement. He also added that another group of technical staff members would work to refine some of the wording, and that by next week there should be some news on a new IMF Accord for the Dominican Republic. Once this has been accomplished, the Executive Branch will be able to forward the 2005 Budget to the Congress for approval. Montas also remarked on the effectiveness of the tax reform legislation that is projected to reduce the deficit from RD$50 billion to what he called a much more manageable figure.