Leaders of the retail and wholesale business community promised the Industry and Commerce minister that prices would drop by as much as 20% in the short term. Minister Francisco Javier Garcia and the head of the Office of Price Controls, Francisco Mancebo, headed the meeting that resulted in the pledge to move prices down by 15%-20% within the next two weeks. Fermin Tromcoso, the head of the Federation of Retailers of Provisions (basic foodstuffs), and Johnny Leyba, the head of the retailers association, spoke out in favor of lower prices. Ivan Garcia, the head of the Dominican Federation of Merchants, said that the process of lowering prices would continue, as it has stimulated commerce and strengthened the buying power of the peso.