A loan has been approved by the Inter-American Development Bank and the Fund for Chinese Cofinancing to repair roads and build bridges in different parts of the country and carry out port works in the Pacific.
Ministers approved, on its second reading, a loan which will finance the Transportation Infrastructure Program (PIT by its initials in Spanish), which will be used to repair roads and make other improvements to road infrastructure mainly in the northern and central Pacific parts of the country.
The Legislative Assembly of El Salvador has approved extending for 60 days the suspension of payment of the fee for inspecting goods at customs using scanners.
According to the approval measure given by the Assembly, the extension of the suspension of the collection will be until mid-September and will apply to both domestic and foreign cargo, regardless of whether the destination of the goods is within or outside of Salvadoran territory.
Congress has confirmed the exemption from payment of $18 for non intrusive inspections of all goods, including exports and imports.
The suspension of the payment of $18 for the X-ray inspection of the goods will be for six months from its publication in the Official newspaper, providing President Funes endorses it.
From a press release issued by the Legislative Assembly of El Salvador:
Exporters have reported inconsistencies in the system of non-intrusive inspections at customs offices in El Salvador.
Exporters are complaining they have paid the $18 fee more than once for scanned inspections of the same container. This is because "in some cases they are charging per product declaration issued not per the number of containers, in other words, if a container has more than one product then you must pay the fee for each one ...".
The suspension of payment for customs inspections in El Salvador applies to goods in international transit and those with a local destination.
From a press release issued by the Legislative Assembly of El Salvador:
The Legislature has approved an authentic interpretation of Decree 604, approved on January 16, which contains exceptional and transitional provisions applied to the "Customs Simplification Act" to suspended for a period of 180 days, the fee for the provision of non-intrusive inspections, whose office of departure and destination are within or outside the borders of El Salvador.
The authorities at customs offices in Guatemala and Honduras have opened new routes for regional transit of goods between the two countries.
The aim of the opening of new routes at the borders between the two countries, in El Florido and Agua Caliente, is to streamline regional trade which has been blocked because of the protests over the application of a fee of $18 in Salvadoran customs offices for X-ray inspection of trucks.
President Funes has asked Congress to suspend for 180 days the fee charged for inspecting goods in transit using scanners.
From a press release issued by the Presidency of El Salvador:
The President, Mauricio Funes, today appealed to the Legislature, through a project for a proposed temporary decree, to suspend the collection of $18 for non-intrusive inspections in the case of goods going through customs offices which are destined to go out of the country, an issue which has generated a dispute at the borders.
The government of El Salvador has lowered the proportion of the portfolio that the Pension Fund Administrators can invest in securities of foreign companies from 20% to 10%.
The Financial System of El Salvador (SSF by its initials in Spanish) stated recently that the Administrators of Pension Funds may not invest more than 10 % in bonds or securities of foreign companies registered in the country, despite the fact that these are the entities which allow Salvadorans to earn 6% interest through investments.
After the Salvadoran Supreme Court suspended the Fonat law, carriers decided to resume their work.
"There is no longer a reason for the strike," said Raul Alfaro, president of the Association of International Cargo Transporters (ASTIC).
"The Chamber accepted a constitutional challenge submitted by the ASTIC against the collection of accident insurance, namely the Fund for Victims of Traffic Accidents (Fonat), from which the Legislature excluded foreign transporters, but not Salvadorans," noted an article in Elsalvador.com.
The reform excludes from payment cargo carriers that already have private insurance coverage in place in Central America.
From a press release by the Legislative Assembly of El Salvador:
With 54 votes in plenary legislature, Section 20 of the Special Law for the Establishment of the Fund for the Care of Traffic Accident Victims (Fonat) was reformed to incorporate a clause that excludes payment of the special contribution by freight vehicles with foreign plates, for those who already have an insurance policy against accidents and / or damage to third parties, to ensure compensation both in terms of health as well as financially, with current coverage level in Central America, including El Salvador.
An agreement has been made to reform the law "Fondo de Atención para Víctimas de Accidentes de Tránsito" (Fund for Attention to Traffic Accident Victims) to exempt carriers carriers who already have private insurance from additional charges.
The agreement was reached in the Finance Committee of the Salvadoran Congress after the Salvadoran Association of International Freight Carriers (ASTIC by its initials in Spanish) threatened to paralyze the service at all of the country's border crossings, on 1 July.
High prices in the region for air fares and roaming telephone services have been attributed to monopolistic practices by the companies who provide these services.
This was explained by the president of the National Assembly of Nicaragua, Rene Nunez, during the Open Skies and Communication Forum. According to the official, in the case of telecommunications, specifically in the use of "roaming" charges, rates are not clear, because users do not realize exactly how much they are being charged in the country they are in.