President Nayib Bukele of El Salvador announced running for reelection

CENTRAL AMERICA - In Brief 16 Sep 2022 by Fernando Naranjo

by Fernando Naranjo and Felix Delgado El Salvador President Nayib Bukele announced on Thursday his intention to run again for president in 2024, despite the country’s Constitution prohibiting serving consecutive presidential terms. The announcement was made on public television and social media at the Independence Day speech. Despite criticism regarding violations by human rights groups and his concentration of power, Bukele enjoys high popularity among Salvadorans. His promises to transform the economy and his actions against gang members have expanded his approval rate to 86%, according to the latest survey made by CID Gallup. His current term will end in May 2024, and the next elections will be held three months before, in February. El Salvador´s economic situation is fragile, particularly due to fiscal insustainability. The country faces high debt maturities in the short term. Its credit rating was recently downgraded to CC from CCC by Fitch Rating. Public debt levels surpass 90% of GDP, and growth perspectives remain among the weakest in Latin-America. Access to external financing remains virtually blocked, after granting legal tender to bitcoin a year ago, which closed negotiations with the IMF for a medium-term agreement. International financial markets are not accessible as Salvadoran debt prices have fallen substantially, and the EMBI is running currently around 24%-25%, one of the highest in Latin America. Inflation is another problem for the population because it's currently high. In August the Consumer Price Index rose to 7.7%, a level not seen since 2008. However, it comes from external factors and would recede with them, as the economy has been dollarized...

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