The chairman of the Central American Bank for Economic Integration (CABEI), Dante Mossi, said that Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies have a ‘minimal’ spread among Salvadoran residents. This was reported by Bloomberg.
At the start of January, CABEI extended a $450 million loan to El Salvador. According to the agency, the country will direct most of these funds to debt service on bonds next week.
CABEI is working with the Salvadoran government to collect information on the debt, which also contains details of the local authorities’ Bitcoin purchases.
The data will be provided to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for further recommendations. El Salvador cannot use loan proceeds to purchase Bitcoin.
In September 2021, Salvadoran authorities recognized Bitcoin as legal tender. The IMF criticized the decision and recommended removing the cryptocurrency’s status.
In July 2022, the country’s finance minister Alejandro Zelaya said that the introduction of digital gold expanded access to financial services to a population largely without banking services, attracted tourists and investments.
In January 2023, El Salvador’s parliament passed a law to issue Bitcoin bonds.
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