Economic Model Questioned in Salvador
El Salvador´s economic model does not work and implementing CAFTA, the Dominican Republic, Central America and US free trade agreement, will worsen differences, admitted ex Economy Minister Arturo Zablah.

He warned on Friday that the concentration of wealth and inefficiency of State institutions would lead nations to a competition continuously less free; noting that some sectors that encouraged it have now had second thoughts.

According to Zablah, El Salvador´s economy will remain stagnant due to high oil prices, decreases in exports, tax increases, lack of development plans, and deterioration of institutions.

El Salvador will be among the Latin American nations with the lowest development rates and greatest trade deficit as imports have started to double exports.

The expert predicted that the social indebtedness, worsening every day, would bring about numerous dismissals of public employees in 2006, and urged the situation be solved through the implementation of new strategies in every social sector.

Support for regional integration, eradicating laws affecting workers, reduction of publicity funds, recovery of the national currency, and the increase of social and productive investments are some of the measures leading to change, the former minister insisted.

Negligible salaries, privatization, anticrime plans and too little for resources able to respond to people"s interests and public needs, increase the failure of the current economic model.