During the month of July, the government plans to pay out the second pay raise, of 15%, to the public servants on the nation’s payroll. The government will have to find an additional RD$1.38 billion in order to achieve this. El Caribe reports that this will raise government employees’ salaries above the limit established by the IMF. Fortunately, the money is already in the bank, since the nation’s accounts are in the black, thanks to the stronger peso, and there are RD$5.0 billion available to fund the increased payroll amount. However, for all purposes that money does not exist unless Congress passes the necessary legislation that will give the government’s payroll managers access to the funds. By law, a new appropriation bill must pass both houses of Congress in order for the money to be used. The report also makes the point that at the beginning of the year the first salary increase upped the payroll by RD$322 million, reaching RD$2.47 billion. However, by May the payroll was at RD$2.71 billion, something that can only be explained by new post holders getting their checks. Moreover, the IMF agreement stated that jobs were to be frozen at the October 2004 level.