Latin American Economy & Business - October 2016 (ISSN 1741-7430)

El Salvador appeared to be on the brink of a public-sector payments default for much of October, as the ruling left-wing Frente Farabundo Martí para la Liberación Nacional (FLMN) government ran out of money and the right-wing Alianza Republicana Nacionalista (ARENA), which has the largest number of seats in congress, refused to authorise further borrowing. The two parties have been trying to agree a fiscal responsibility pact; much of the fiscal problem is due to large unfunded pension liabilities.