El Salvador suspends rice import tariffs

SAN SALVADOR, EL SALVADOR -- Last Thursday, President Nayib Bukele of El Salvador announced a one-year suspension of import tariffs for twenty basic goods, including rice, for the United States and 65 other countries. This and ten other initiatives, most of which are focused on gasoline or propane prices, are meant to address inflation and help improve the economic conditions in the country. El Salvador was just beginning to recover economically from the COVID-19 pandemic when inflation and oil/gas prices began rising; El Salvador’s annual inflation rate reached 6.7 percent in February. “The Government is taking important measures to relieve the population so that Salvadorans do not feel or feel less the effects of global crises,” said President Bukele. “Hoarding will be a punishable crime.” Five of the eleven initiatives were submitted to the country’s Congress yesterday during a special session and three of them were approved, including the suspension of import tariffs. The ...