Yesterday, government technicians and Congress reached a preliminary agreement about the changes that would be introduced to the 2006 National Budget and Public Expense bill. According to a report by Diario Libre, among the issues discussed are the application of the exchange rate commission, the 5% discretional fund for the Presidency, and allocation of funds to several institutions. Presidential Technical Secretary Temistocles Montas explained that technicians are still working to present President Fernandez a feasible document over the weekend. Montas said the government had proposed a 13% import tariff as a substitution for the exchange rate commission until the coming into effect of the DR-CAFTA on 1 July 2006.
El Caribe reports that Montas was accompanied by the Director of the National Budget Department, Luis Hernandez. He stated that the objection to the allocation of more resources for the construction of the metro does not concern Congress. Chamber of Deputies President Alfredo Pacheco said that the government will be managing RD$37 billion rather than RD$32 billion in the 2006 budget.