President Nayib Bukele. Archive Photo.
SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador — Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele projected to double the country’s economic growth rate for 2025, forecasting a 5% expansion despite the International Monetary Fund’s more modest outlook.
On April 23, the IMF downgraded its 2025 growth projection for El Salvador to 2.47%, down from the 3% estimate issued in October 2024.
The World of Statistics account highlighted the IMF’s revision, prompting Bukele to respond publicly.
“We will double this forecast. Look,” Bukele wrote on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, referencing a regional ranking of economic growth projections.
According to official data from the Salvadoran Central Reserve Bank BCR, El Salvador’s economy grew by 2.6% in 2024.
The IMF’s broader regional projections for 2025 estimate growth of 4.1% for Guatemala, 4% for Panama, 3.44% for Costa Rica, 3.3% for Honduras, and 3.2% for Nicaragua. El Salvador’s 2.47% projection remains among the lowest for Central America.
As part of its latest review, the IMF committed El Salvador to a fiscal adjustment equivalent to 3.5% of its gross domestic product over three years starting in 2025, combining spending cuts with revenue-boosting measures.
The International Monetary Fund also forecasts moderately higher growth in the medium term if the government implements structural reforms.
Like the IMF, the World Bank lowered its economic growth forecast for El Salvador for 2025; the WB projects a 2.2% economic growth this year, citing persistent fiscal challenges and external risks that could affect the country could affect the country’s economic performance.
Despite international forecasts, El Salvador’s Central Reserve Bank has yet to release its official economic outlook for 2025.
