IMF says El Salvador is still complying with Bitcoin freeze pledge

El Salvador is still sticking to its Bitcoin freeze, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said during the Spring Meetings 2025 for the Western Hemisphere Department, according to the official press briefing transcript.

At the event, Julie Ziegler, Senior Communications Officer at the IMF, kicked off the discussion by reading a question submitted online by Ion Group.

The question asked why El Salvador had been moving Bitcoin between accounts instead of buying more directly to grow its reserves. Ziegler said they would address that first before taking any other questions and promised Argentina would have its own section later in the session.

Rodrigo Valdes, Director of the Western Hemisphere Department at the IMF, answered bluntly that El Salvador continues to follow its commitment not to add Bitcoin holdings through the public sector.

“I can confirm that they continue to comply with their commitment of non-accumulation of bitcoin by the overall fiscal sector,” Rodrigo said. He made it clear there were no secret transactions happening to boost reserves through sneaky moves.

IMF points to broader reforms in El Salvador

Before diving further into El Salvador, the briefing changed to Honduras. A reporter asked about the IMF’s contributions to Honduras and other countries in the region facing confusion and trade tensions.

Rodrigo said, “Honduras just had a staff-level agreement with the Fund. That means that we are ready to go to the Board for the review of the program, the second review.”

Rodrigo explained that Honduras made strong moves when global conditions were calm, fixing structural and macroeconomic issues early. “You repair your roof when it’s sunny outside,” he added, calling Honduras a case of good preparation.

Rodrigo also said that Honduras improved its reserves, secured more funds from international financial institutions (IFIs), lowered inflation, grew its economy, and made fiscal reforms, which left the country stronger against future shocks compared to before.

Coming back to El Salvador, Rodrigo made it very clear that Bitcoin is not the centerpiece of their economic program. “The program of El Salvador is not about bitcoin. It’s much more, much deeper in structural reforms, in terms of governance, in terms of transparency,” he said.

Rodrigo explained that the country is pushing through big changes to make government operations cleaner and more open. Fiscal reforms are also a big part of the agenda, and he confirmed that authorities are pushing forward in getting them done.

The country’s program with the IMF is a 40-month deal worth $1.4 billion, but if you count what they can pull in from other IFIs, it goes up to about $3.5 billion. Rodrigo said an “important fiscal adjustment” is happening right now under this plan. The idea is to make El Salvador a better place for private businesses to invest and help the economy grow faster.

Rodrigo also said that the IMF is preparing the first full review of the program. If everything continues to move the way it has, El Salvador could see even bigger gains. He stressed that the country is standing on a much stronger macroeconomic foundation now.

Plus, Rodrigo said that the huge improvements in security in El Salvador over the last few years will bring extra benefits that stack on top of the better economy.

After covering El Salvador and Honduras, Ziegler told the press they would finally move on to questions about Argentina, which has yet to adopt crypto yet but has its president involved in an ongoing international crypto fraud investigation.

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