IMF Says El Salvador Met Most Targets As Part Of $1.4 Billion Funding Program, But Wants To 'Ensure' Country's Bitcoin Holdings Don't Grow

The International Monetary Fund said Tuesday that it will “ensure” El Salvador does not increase its Bitcoin BTC/USD stockpile, which conflicts with the Central American nation’s state policy.

What Happened: The IMF’s announcement came as part of its first review of the Extended Fund Facility deal with El Salvador earlier this year. Both parties have reached a staff-level agreement on the matter. The country is set to receive about $120 million upon approval by the IMF Executive Board.

“The authorities have made significant progress in implementing their economic reform plan under the IMF-supported program. Most program targets set for the first review were comfortably met, and implementation of the structural benchmarks is progressing well,” the IMF staff said in a statement.

Regarding El Salvador’s Bitcoin investments, the IMF stated that “it will continue to ensure” that the total number of BTC held in government wallets remains unchanged and that the country’s national Bitcoin wallet, called “Chivo,” is decommissioned.

President Nayib Bukele celebrated the IMF’s appreciation of progress made in the economic reform plan, but did not react to the remarks on Bitcoin.

Why It Matters: The IMF had asked El Salvador to halt public sector Bitcoin purchases as part of a $1.4 billion funding deal earlier this year. While the country made the acceptance of Bitcoin voluntary rather than mandatory, it hasn’t stopped its Bitcoin purchases.

In fact, El Salvador bought 30 BTC over the last month, aligning with its policy of acquiring 1 BTC per day. As of this writing, it was sitting on a stash of 6,190.18 BTC, worth $674.39 million.

Bukele has remained defiant, stating emphatically in March, “It won't stop now, and it won't stop in the future.”

Price Action: At the time of writing, Bitcoin was exchanging hands at $108,794.75, down 0.24% in the last 24 hours, according to data from Benzinga Pro.

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