The Dominican government is going to try and keep the propane subsidy because of the tremendous political and “social” cost it will incur if it removes the subsidy for all but the poorest families. The government is holding talks with the IMF with the aim of postponing the removal of the subsidy and is promising to cover the costs of the subsidy with the anticipated budget surplus. According to Diario Libre, the government is arguing that, given the current electoral debates, the political and social costs would threaten the country’s governability. The government expects that the lower cost of the dollar and a reduction in public expenditure will suffice to cover the subsidy. The subsidy was supposed to have been stripped away in April, but it has been postponed until this month. The subsidy was budgeted to cost the government about RD$2.8 billion a year, but this included the abolition of most subsidies for all except the very the poorest families. Otherwise, the government will have to shell out about RD$4.0 billion. The government economic team is projecting a RD$9 billion budget surplus for this year.