According to the IMF, in the first half of the year, the Salvadoran economy increased above the estimated potential, the inflation remained low and the fiscal position was better than expected.
From the International Monetary Fund statement:
An International Monetary Fund (IMF) team, led by Ms. Alina Carare, visited San Salvador from November 12 to 16, 2018 to discuss recent economic and financial developments.
Reducing trade barriers and procedures, increasing legal security and improving productive infrastructure are part of the changes required by the business sector for the region's economic development.
In Guatemala, the 12th Ibero-American Business Meeting is held, in which the private sector presents proposals to face the current challenges and generate opportunities for the countries of the region.
The entity recognizes the continued economic recovery, but warns that potential growth is below the desirable level, debt remains high, and wide financing gaps are projected for 2019 and in the future.
From a statement issued by the IMF:
On May 11, 2018, the Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) concluded the Article IV consultation with El Salvador.
The institution highlights the progress that has been made in reducing the fiscal deficit and stabilizing the debt, but warns that a greater effort is needed to place the debt on a downward trajectory.
From a statement issued by the International Monetary Fund:
The IMF staff team visited San Salvador during February 5—16 for the 2018 Article IV consultation [1] and held productive discussions with the Salvadoran authorities, parliamentarians, business community, and social partners. The consultation was based on revised National Accounts statistics.
Salvadoran business owners point out that the main causes of the country's poor economic performance is still growing insecurity and a lack of a clear political course.
The Salvadoran business chambers agree that the beginning of the year has not been the best, since the obstacles that for several months have made it difficult to operate and grow private sector activities still remain.
Citizens are less than two months away from going to a ballotage to elect a new government without having discussed the country's priority issues, even though some of them require urgent attention and a deep national discussion in order to find a solution.
The ambitious joint plan of the governments of Honduras, Nicaragua and El Salvador is to turn the Gulf of Fonseca into an area of free trade and sustainable tourism.
The aim is to create a long-term master plan in conjunction with the private sector, to turn the area into an economic development hub and the main difference from past initiatives is the involvement of the business sector.
For every dollar invested in health and education, three need to be spent on direct social assistance in order to achieve the same effect on poverty reduction.
The report "Impact of Public Expenditure on Poverty Reduction and Inequality" by the Nicaraguan Foundation for Economic and Social Development (FUNIDES) has similar conclusions to similar studies carried out in other countries: "In estimating the effect of public interventions on poverty reduction, it was identified that poverty was reduced from 7.2 to 10.1 percent depending on the poverty line used (US $1.8, US $2 and US $2.6), mainly due to social spending in health and education.On the other hand, the contribution made by electricity subsidies did not compensate for the reduction in incomes in households caused by payment of indirect taxes, therefore it did not affect poverty reduction.
Fusades' most recent report points to the loss of 33,000 formal jobs between November 2016 and March this year, the second biggest drop in the last 25 years.
From the report by Fusades:
At the end of 2016 and early in 2017 there is clear deterioration in the country's economic conditions, which was reflected in the loss of 33,110 formal jobs between November 2016 and March 2017 and in the default of public debt in April 2017.
Central Americans and other Latin Americans are feeling more concerned about what Trump can say or do, than over the only thing that can really change the fate of poverty in the region, which is education.
EDITORIAL
The recently published results of the PISA tests confirm that in the best case, these countries maintain positions midway down the table of global results, and in the worst case have fallen in the objective measurement of quality of the most important resource for economic and social development, people and their cognitive abilities.
A third and final call has started for companies and investors interested in participating in the development of projects in the program 'Apuesta por InversionES'.
Applications are open for national and international companies with the financial capacity to invest anywhere in the country.
Elsalvador.com reports that "...Interested investors should do so in a new project or expansion of an existing one in the category of tradables, which includes goods or services that can be traded internationally, said a statement issued by Fomilenio II.These are projects that can be set up in any part of the country, with a minimum investment of $100,000 by the applicant. "
Fusades has cited serious liquidity problems in public finances and stated that "without additional money, the state has only months in which to operate normally".
From a statement issued by the Salvadoran Foundation for Economic and Social Development:
In 2015 there was a slight improvement in economic growth in El Salvador; however, job creation is insufficient and in the first quarter of 2016 a deterioration has been observed.
The drama over the bulk of exports being primary products without added value is unfolding not only in Nicaragua.
The new president of the Association of Producers and Exporters of Nicaragua (APEN), Guillermo Jacoby, has carried out a lucid analysis of the difficulties faced by Nicaraguan exporters in increasing both the volume and the value of its sales abroad, and especially how to make this productive effort sustainable.
In El Salvador, the decision taken by the Sanchez Ceren administration not to attend the main business event in the country reveals either disinclination, inability to govern, or simple political manichaeism.
EDITORIAL
Maybe it is a persistence of visualizing the world as it was in the last century, dividing it into two antagonistic parties, capital on the one hand and labour on the other.
Gaps in GDP per capita between different countries are directly related to the productivity gaps between their respective economies, with education being the main factor in these differences.
The OECD report "Promoting inclusive growth of productivity in Latin America" says that although the region made progress in reducing poverty over the past 20 years, it still stands out at the global level, because of the unequal income its inhabitants.