The Legislative Assembly ratified a $100 million loan with the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD), thus adding more debt to the current administration.
The ratification was requested from the plenary session by the head of the Nuevas Ideas faction, Christian Guevara, who also requested a waiver of the procedure; that is to say, an approval without going through a previous study by the Treasury Commission.
The request, submitted by the Executive last June, states that the loan will be used for the “Second additional financing for El Salvador’s response project to COVID-19.”
According to the note signed by the Minister of Finance, Alejandro Zelaya, these funds seek to strengthen the public health system and “respond to the threat that the covid-19 pandemic continues to represent and its impacts at a general level.”
Opposition deputies from the Nationalist Republican Alliance (ARENA), Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front (FMLN), VAMOS and Nuestro Tiempo did not support the decree, alleging lack of transparency in the management of funds.
Last year alone, the Legislative Assembly directed more than $1,194 million to cover the budget deficit caused by COVID-19. Of these, $1,174 million came from the $2,000 million approved by the previous legislature, as part of the funds for the pandemic.
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