The Ministry of Finance (MH) reported that the public debt, including pensions, would be 76.2% by the end of 2022, down from 81% the previous year.
Meanwhile, the figures without pensions reflected 56.7% until December 2022, while in 2021 they were 60.7%.
This feat is, according to the head of the Treasury, Alejandro Zelaya, part of the liability management plan that the government executes to give sustainability to the state’s finances.
“The goal is to ensure that financial obligations can be managed under better conditions, for example, with longer terms and more flexible interest rates,” Zelaya mentioned.
In turn, he has explained that the reduction in public debt represents less weight in the economy.
This same dynamic will deepen in 2023 with timely compliance with the payment of the Eurobond that matured in January, an action that received positive feedback from international markets and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in the recent disclosure of the results of the evaluation of Article IV of El Salvador.
The multilateral affirms that this payment allowed the spreads of the Emerging Markets Bond Indicator (EMBI, for its acronym in English) to fall. The country canceled this year’s securities without arrears and has advanced—through two repurchases—those corresponding to 2025.
Meanwhile, the government announced on Monday the launch of Phase IV and new actions of the Anti-Evasion Plan and Anti-Smuggling Plan, such as the request to the Legislative Assembly to reform Article 219 of the Tax Code so as not to issue solvencies to any debtor of employer contributions.