By Nelson Renteria
MEXICO CITY, March 19 (Reuters) – El Salvador should seek
political agreements to reduce government expenses in a bid to
stabilize the Central American nation’s weak economy before
presidential elections in 2014, the International Monetary Fund
said on Tuesday.
Pointing to El Salvador’s high public debt, which reached 55
percent of gross domestic product (GDP) at the end of 2012, the
IMF urged leftist President Mauricio Funes and the country’s
policymakers to “organize a national dialogue … to achieve
agreement about basic policies that safeguard macro-economic
stability during the transition to a new government.”
Official figures put the national debt at $13.3 billion.
The IMF proposed a target fiscal deficit of 2 percent of GDP
for 2014.
El Salvador notched 1.5 percent GDP growth last year, the
lowest in Central America, due to low domestic investment and
heavy rains which damaged crops and infrastructure.
The government forecasts 2.3 percent growth this year.
(Writing by Alexandra Alper; Editing by Paul Simao)
