Press Release: IMF Concludes Staff Visit to El Salvador

June 19, 2014

Press Release No. 14/295
June 19, 2014

An IMF staff mission led by Ms. Uma Ramakrishnan visited San Salvador from June 9-13, as part of the Fund’s regular policy dialogue with its member countries. During the visit, the mission met with Vice President Oscar Ortiz, Technical Secretary Roberto Lorenzana, Finance Minister Carlos Cáceres, Central Bank President Oscar Cabrera, Economy Minister Tharsis Solomon López, as well as other senior government officials, members of congress, and representatives of the private sector. At the conclusion of the visit, Ms. Ramakrishnan issued the following statement:

“Staff had productive discussions with members of the new government. We welcomed the government's early economic policy intentions, including its commitment to a pro-growth reform agenda and to stronger public finances. We agreed that a clear strategy and strong policy implementation, including preserving social spending for the most vulnerable, would lay the basis for fiscally, financially, and socially sustainable growth in El Salvador. The authorities and the mission shared the view that higher growth alone would not be sufficient to achieve public debt sustainability and that deficit reduction measures would be necessary. The current set of revenue measures submitted for approval to the legislative assembly, as well as plans to exercise public-spending restraint, together constitute important steps in that direction.

“Staff stressed the urgency of taking quick action to advance the growth and fiscal-tightening agendas, specifically in the 2015 budget preparation and the “Plan Quinquenal.” We look forward to having further discussions with the authorities in the context of the Article IV consultation, planned later this year.”

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