*The president of El Salvador’s central bank (BCR), Douglas Rodríguez, has said that the country’s GDP grew 3.5% in 2023, driven by construction (which he said was up 53.3%) and demand for services. He said that the government was forecasting growth of between 3 and 3.5% this year and that inflation would close the year at between 0.5% and 1% in line “with the price of oil and its derivatives as well as the diversification of the energy matrix with renewable sources which enables electricity prices to remain lower”. Rodríguez said that GDP growth in 2023 exceeded initial projections of 2.7%, citing a “strong increase” in economic activity in the fourth quarter which was up 4.5%. He said that this is the third consecutive year that the economy has registered growth rates of above 2.1% on average and cited as the main reason, the reduction in violence and crime as a result of the crackdown on gangs by the government led by Nayib Bukele.
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