STORY CONTINUES BELOW THESE SALTWIRE VIDEOSNEW YORK/SAN SALVADOR - An agreement between El Salvador and a group of private local banks to reprofile its short-term debt has helped extend a stellar rally in its international bonds, which have returned more than 90% this year.
"The agreement with the private banks is another demonstration that the government is willing to take pain domestically to continue meeting its external obligations," said Nathalie Marshik, a managing director for Latin America fixed income at BNP Paribas.Adding to the rally was an announcement last week of a seven-year strategic partnership between the government of President Nayib Bukele and Google Cloud that aims to digitalize the government and modernize health and education.
On Thursday, the U.S. Embassy announced the re-establishment of Peace Corps operations in the Central American country. A similar announcement in November 2020 did not come to pass. BNP's Marshik said the next leg of the rally could come from good news on El Salvador's relationship with the International Monetary Fund - where the United States is the largest shareholder.