* The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has approved El Salvador’s request for emergency financial assistance of approximately US$389m under the Rapid Financing Instrument, in order to combat the economic effects of the coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic. According to an IMF press release, this assistance - the first disbursement under an IMF lending arrangement to El Salvador in over three decades - “
will help El Salvador direct funds swiftly to the country’s most affected sectors, including the healthcare system”. It will also “
help preserve fiscal space and catalyse significant funding from other multilateral institutions”; the Salvadorean government has sought to mitigate the economic impact of the pandemic on the population through measures including targeted cash transfers to vulnerable households, and tax relief for the most affected economic sectors.
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