Elena Viyella de Paliza, referred to as ?Elenita? by Hipolito Mejia, told the press yesterday that the voluntary retirement program that the President has assigned to the newly created presidential commission to reduce payroll is a very good program. During an interview at Hoy newspaper, Viyella de Paliza, who presides the commission, told the Corripio Communications Group that the plan calls for the securing of a US$200-million loan, but that such a loan was good business if the all goes according to plan. The US$200-million financing, equivalent to RD$4.8 billion, would entail savings of RD$4.1 billion annually, and the debt could be amortized in the short term. Viyella de Paliza explained that the loan would come with generous terms granted by the World Bank. The president of the business group also told reporters that there are now 380,000 public employees, and estimated that approximately 10,000 die each year. Despite the natural rate of attrition, the commission was looking for voluntary retirees, while they simultaneously investigate further programs to absorb the manpower that the government would let go.