LatinNews Daily - 02 April 2026

*El Salvador’s central bank (BCR) has released figures showing that 22.5% of households in the country were living in poverty in 2025. The rate of relative poverty stood at 14.8%, while 7.7% of households were living extreme poverty in 2025. The latest annual result reportedly marks the lowest figure for six years and is just below the 22.8% figure for 2019 before the coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic. Rafael Lemus, an economist and university lecturer cited by the national daily La Prensa Gráfica, said the figures were “surprising and strange” and “almost certainly manipulated”.