El Salvador Reaches $1.4 Billion IMF Deal After Bitcoin Saga

The Central American nation and the Washington-based lender agreed on a $1.4 billion loan program to be disbursed over 40 months.

El Salvador has reached an agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) after four years of strained negotiations over the country's adoption of Bitcoin as a legal tender.

The Central American nation and the Washington-based lender agreed on a $1.4 billion loan program to be disbursed over 40 months, according to a statement by the IMF on Wednesday. In exchange, El Salvador had agreed to adopt measures that will improve its primary balance and help cut its debt-to-gdp ratio.

The IMF cited the government's work in improving its fiscal situation, growing the economy, bringing down inflation and managing its near-term debt obligations.

The lender also softened its stance on the use of Bitcoin by President Nayib Bukele's government, which had been a major sticking point. Legal reforms will make acceptance of the crypto currency voluntary for the private sector. The risks of El Salvador's Bitcoin project, the IMF said, will be “diminished significantly in line with Fund policies.”

The agreement, which still needs the OK from the Fund's executive board, would bring conclusion to an issue that has long vexed investors in El Salvador's bond markets. Bukele's adoption of Bitcoin in 2021 put the government at odds with the IMF, sparking credit downgrades, spooking investors and sending prices for bonds into a tailspin.

Bukele, however, orchestrated a turnaround by buying back dollar notes at a discount, paying off other bonds early, restructuring pension debt and refinancing some of its domestic securities. Bonds due in 2052 jumped from below 30 cents on the dollar in mid-2022 to around 106 cents, rewarding debt investors with one of the best returns in the developing world.

Notes traded mixed on Wednesday following the announcement.

The government made a surprise return to the bond market in April, selling $1 billion in global notes in a sweetened deal where the interest rate on the bond increases if El Salvador fails to score several credit-rating upgrades or a deal with the Fund.

It also carried out a debt-for-nature swap to channel funds to the nation's longest river in October, and then sold another $1 billion in 30-year notes to buy back existing bonds and pay off government arrears.