El Salvador Finance Chief Says USD 800M Debt Default Won’t Happen, Bukele Says BTC Is 'Inevitable'

cryptonews.com:

El Salvador’s finance minister says he is unworried by international markets forecasters’ predictions that the country will default on USD 800 million bond payments early next year.

ElSalvador.com, the website of the newspaper El Diario de Hoy, quoted minister Alejandro Zelaya as stating that doors were “open” at “multilateral organizations” that could provide El Salvador with “financing options.”

Zelaya claimed that the World Bank had “just approved” the country “a loan of USD 100 million,” while the Central American Bank for Economic Integration had also signed off on a loan of USD 220 million. He admitted, however, that a loan deal with the Development Bank of Latin America (CAF) was still being finalized.

But, he added, the nation could seek other means to ensure that it did not default. He explained:

“I can go to the regional debt market or I can issue a three-year local bond in Central America. The truth is, USD 800 million in a [national] budget of USD 7,000 million is a marginal amount. It is small.”

And Zelaya insisted that the Salvadoran government had no intention of defaulting, adding:

“[The USD 800 million bill] is not unpayable. It does not cause us any concern.”

Regardless, international observers claim that El Salvador remains in hot water. La Prensa Gráfica reported that country risk indicators “shot up” this week “to levels never seen before” in the nation’s history.

The bonds in question lost up to 20% of their value in a single day midweek. “Markets,” the newspaper wrote, “do not trust that the country can meet its future financial obligations.”

JPMorgan analysts argued that the level of El Salvador’s likelihood to default on its payment obligations is the second-highest in the Latin America region, behind