El Salvador Wins IMF Staff-Level Agreement Worth US$140 Million

The International Monetary Fund and El Salvador have agreed on a staff-level deal. It could release about US$140 million once the board approves.

El Salvador has reached an IMF deal that could bring about US$140 million in new funding. The staff-level agreement, announced on 3 September 2026, still needs approval from the IMF’s executive board.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) and El Salvador have reached a staff-level agreement. This is a technical step, not a final payment.

A staff-level agreement means IMF experts and the country’s officials have agreed on a plan. The IMF’s executive board must still approve it.

IMF missions negotiate this kind of agreement after reviewing a country’s economic data on site. Staff then write a report for the Executive Board to consider.

The agreement covers the combined second and third reviews of El Salvador’s Extended Fund Facility (EFF). This is a 40-month loan programme.

If approved, El Salvador could access about US$140 million. That is equal to SDR 101.96 million, the IMF’s unit of account.

The full EFF programme is worth about US$1.4 billion, equal to SDR 1,033.92 million. That is roughly 360 percent of El Salvador’s IMF quota.

The IMF says the deal is ‘subject to approval by the IMF Executive Board.’ Disbursement also depends on completing agreed prior actions.

Prior actions are specific steps the country must take before the money is released. They are part of the conditions of the loan.

The IMF said El Salvador’s Bitcoin accumulation since 27 June 2025 came from private donations. No public funds were used for that accumulation.

IMF staff said no further Bitcoin accumulation beyond documented donations is expected. The Fund did not describe this as a formal pledge by El Salvador.

El Salvador held about 7,762 Bitcoin in its reserves as of early September 2026. Acceptance of Bitcoin by businesses became voluntary under a 2025 legal change.

Public participation in the Chivo Bitcoin wallet has been reduced. Most ownership and control have moved to a private operator.

This change is part of the understandings with the IMF. It aims to reduce the public sector’s role in crypto activities.

The December 2024 agreement had called for El Salvador to sell or wind down Chivo. The government instead transferred majority control to a private firm, keeping a minority stake.

El Salvador and the IMF agreed to modernize the legal and regulatory framework for digital assets. They also plan to strengthen governance for public crypto holdings.

These reforms are meant to manage risks. They are part of the conditions tied to the IMF deal.

IMF staff also list the reforms under the programme’s wider financial-sector stability goals. They sit alongside the separate fiscal and governance conditions.

The Extended Fund Facility (EFF) is an IMF loan programme for countries with balance-of-payments problems. It typically runs three to four years, with repayment stretched over four-and-a-half to ten years.

El Salvador’s EFF is a 40-month programme. The staff-level agreement of 3 September 2026 covers its second and third reviews.

Those reviews check whether the country has met the conditions set in the programme.

Special Drawing Rights, or SDRs, are an international reserve asset created by the IMF. They are not a currency but can be exchanged for usable currencies like US dollars or euros.

The potential disbursement is about US$140 million, which equals SDR 101.96 million. That is about 0.4 percent of El Salvador’s 2025 GDP.

An SDR’s value is set daily from a basket of five major currencies. That basket includes the US dollar, euro, yuan, yen and British pound.

The IMF Executive Board has 25 directors representing member countries. They meet to approve loan reviews and disbursements.

After a staff-level agreement, IMF staff prepare a Board report. The Board must approve it, and the country must complete prior actions before funds are released.

Board approval of a review also rests on measurable performance criteria, not only prior actions. Missing either can delay a disbursement.

Prior actions are conditions El Salvador must meet before the IMF board approves the loan. For this agreement, the specific actions have not been published.

They differ from the numeric targets checked at each review. Prior actions must be finished before the Board vote, not after it.

Reports reviewed for this article do not quote the IMF mission chief for El Salvador directly on this deal. The IMF’s mission chief for the country, Mr Torres, was not quoted by name in the 3 September 2026 statement.

IMF staff said ‘no further accumulation beyond documented donations is expected.’ That line appeared in the update issued on 3 September 2026.

El Salvador adopted Bitcoin as legal tender in 2021. The IMF was cautious about this policy.

In December 2024, IMF staff and El Salvador reached a staff-level agreement on the new EFF programme. The IMF Executive Board approved it on 26 February 2025.

The first review was completed in June 2025, releasing further funds. This staff-level agreement now covers the combined second and third reviews.

IMF staff reached agreement on the first review on 27 May 2025. The Executive Board completed it on 27 June 2025, releasing about US$118 million.

The IMF said most targets set for that first review were comfortably met. It also said the agreed structural benchmarks were progressing well.

The Fund reported El Salvador’s economy grew by about 3.9 percent in 2025. That growth outpaced earlier forecasts for the year.

The programme targets a 3.5 percentage-point improvement in El Salvador’s primary fiscal balance over three years. It also calls for the country to rebuild its foreign currency reserves.

Governance conditions include stronger transparency and anti-corruption safeguards across public institutions. Pension reform and anti-money-laundering rules are also among the structural benchmarks.