The President of the BCR, Douglas Rodriguez, announced that for 2024 the economy is projected to grow in the range of 3.0% to 3.5%, mainly driven by private and public investment and tourism in an environment of security and certainty for the population and companies, as well as the recovery of external demand, which will favor exports.

Inflation this year is expected to be between 0.5% and 1.0% due to factors such as the behavior of the international price of oil and its derivatives, the continuity of projects to diversify the energy matrix based on renewable resources, which will help keep food prices low.

In the case of remittances, for February they show that US$623.9 million were received. In the first two months, remittance inflows accumulated US$1,218 million, at least US$16.1 million more than in the same period of 2023.

Now the diaspora is not only sending money for consumption but also for investment according to BCR data.

The growth of the salvadoran economy, measured from the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), amounted to 3.5% at the end of 2023, overcoming several challenges and the projected growth for that year.

According to estimates made by the Banco Central de Reserva, with the information available to date, the nominal value of the 2023 GDP was US$34,015.62 million, which meant an increase of US$2,026.7 million with respect to the 2022 GDP.

From the production perspective, growth was observed in 17 of the 19 activities that make up the GDP, with the largest annual increase being: Construction with 17.9%; Electricity (14.6%); Professional and technical services (11.1%); Leisure services (10.2%); Financial services (7.5%); Administration and support services (4.5%); Communications (4.1%); and Government services with 3.9%.

Throughout 2023, several factors contributed positively to productive activity, among them:

The development of public and private investment projects, such as highways, overpasses, ports, airport and hospital improvements, construction works in higher education centers, horizontal and vertical infrastructure residential projects, corporate buildings, shopping centers, among others.

The greater dynamism of construction and increased demand for services, mainly those associated with construction.

• Promotion and increase of domestic and foreign tourism, registering 3.4 million international visitors in 2023 according to the Ministry of Tourism (MITUR), which meant an increase of 33% over 2022. This, in turn, had an impact on tourism-related activities; development of the XXIV Central American and Caribbean Games San Salvador 2023, which involved the construction and remodeling of sports venues, which were subsequently used for other sporting events.

• Positioning as a host country for international surfing tournaments. During the year 2023, six international events were held that positioned the country as a benchmark in this sport, generating interest for the development of new events:

Likewise, El Salvador's participation as host country for the Miss Universe 2023 International Beauty Pageant, an event that attracted many visitors, required the conditioning of infrastructure, and positively impacted the demand for services in restaurants and hotels, communications, transportation, travel agencies, personal services, commerce, among others.

Similarly, the continuity of public safety strategies, which have made it possible to significantly reduce crime, continued to facilitate the development of different productive activities and boost tourism.

The increase in electricity generation ensured the coverage of local demand and the growth of exports to the countries of the Central American region, as well as the reduction of imports. In this activity, the inauguration of the 3 de Febrero Hydroelectric Power Plant also stood out, with which it is expected that El Salvador will continue to position itself as a supplier of the region's electricity market.

From the expenditure perspective, the macroeconomic aggregates registered favorable conditions that stimulated the variables that most contributed to the GDP: investment grew 8.9%, while exports grew 5.2%, because of the growth of services exports; meanwhile, private consumption and public consumption increased by 3.4% and 3.2%, respectively.

Translated by: A.M