The International Monetary Fund (IMF) said on Thursday that addressing the risks arising from bitcoin, an official currency in El Salvador, is a “key element” of the talks it is having with the government of Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele for an economic agreement.
“Addressing the risks arising from bitcoin is a key element of our conversations with the authorities,” IMF spokeswoman Julie Kozack said at a press conference in Washington.
Negotiations with the Salvadoran Executive focus on the implementation of policies to strengthen economic governance and fiscal and external sustainability and to boost productivity growth.
The IMF and the Government of El Salvador continue today to negotiate the aid agreement, announced by former Finance Minister Alejandro Zelaya in March 2021.
“IMF staff continue to work constructively with Salvadorans and authorities with the aim of reaching agreement on an IMF-backed program,” the spokeswoman recalled.
Bukele said last October that talks with the IMF for the agreement “go ahead” and that he hoped it would be achieved “after the elections” of 2024.
The president won these elections, held on February 4, with a wide majority, which will allow him to continue in the Executive until 2029, despite the fact that the Constitution does not allow immediate re-election.
El Salvador captured the attention of the financial world in September 2021 with the adoption of the most popular of cryptocurrencies, without mass use being recorded today, nor have the expectations generated by a project criticized for its opacity materialized.
This article has been translated from the original which first appeared in La Prensa Grafica