Dominican president to finalise IMF agreement

The Dominican President, Leonel Fernandez, says his government is likely to finalise a stand-by agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in the next two to three weeks.



Mr Fernandez had initially ruled out approaching the IMF but he was forced to turn to the Washington-based institution because of a sharp decline in finances.



He says the country is now set to receive a $1.5 billion loan, which he says will ease the financial challenges, worsened by a drop in tourism and remittances in the wake of the global financial crisis.