Alejandro Zelaya, El Salvador’s finance minister, has replied to recent IMF demands. El Salvador has reacted angrily to the International Monetary Fund’s recent demand that it discontinue the use of Bitcoin as legal cash.
Minister of Finance Alejandro Zelaya indicated that the nation will continue to embrace Bitcoin as legal money.
“No foreign agency is going to compel us to do anything,” Zelaya remarked. He also characterised the proposal as an assault to El Salvador’s independence, noting that “countries are sovereign states that make sovereign public policy choices.”
According to many news outlets, the words were made during an appearance on a local television station. In September 2021, El Salvador became the first nation to use Bitcoin as legal money.
In a paper on Tuesday, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) encouraged El Salvador to abandon its Bitcoin policy. It identified threats to financial stability and consumer protection in that section.
Previously, El Salvador’s government disregarded the IMF’s suggestions, claiming that its embrace of Bitcoin aided millions of individuals in achieving financial inclusion. Bitcoin adoption, in conjunction with the country’s Chivo wallet, was designed to provide financial services to those with restricted access to traditional banking.
Today’s announcement comes only days after El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele forecast a “colossal price surge” for Bitcoin, despite the country’s recent losses on its Bitcoin investment.
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