El Salvador to receive $150 mln from development bank for education

El Salvador, which made Bitcoin official tender last year, became a full member of CAF in March in search of expanding its financing sources. In September, CAF representative to the country Oscar Avalle said in a television interview that the lender was working with the Salvadoran government on obtaining the loan.

El Salvador will receive a $150 million loan from Latin American development bank CAF to strengthen its education system, the lender said in a Wednesday statement. The board of CAF approved the loan - the country's first from the bank - which will be used on equipment, training and closing the digital gap in Salvadoran schools, the bank said in a statement.

"We are a strategic ally for the development of countries with comprehensive programs like this," said CAF Executive President Sergio Diaz-Granados in the statement, adding the coronavirus pandemic had created an "educational emergency" in the country. El Salvador, which made Bitcoin official tender last year, became a full member of CAF in March in search of expanding its financing sources.

In September, CAF representative to the country Oscar Avalle said in a television interview that the lender was working with the Salvadoran government on obtaining the loan. The government expects the Central American country's economy to grow 2.8% in 2022 after rebounding from the impact of the coronavirus pandemic in 2021 with 10.3% growth.