Government and Opposition Reach Agreement
The Salvadorian Government and the opposition on Tuesday reached their first agreement on fiscal and budgetary policy, after a dispute over an eventual authorization of millions of dollars in loans from international organizations.

Working groups from the governing National Republican Alliance (ARENA) and the opposition Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front (FMLN) agreed on the need to release budgetary information that can be used by the Legislative Assembly.

They also concurred that international consultants carry out an objective investigation to determine whether the current fiscal policy is viable.

Last week, the FMLN succeeded in preventing the authorization of eight loans totaling 376 million dollars.

According to FMLN Deputy Gerson Martinez, El Salvador´s foreign debt cannot continue to increase, because the country annually pays interests that exceed the budgets for health and education.

The FMLN, the second major political force in the country, warned that the State is near the limit of its paying capacity and that could lead to a financial crisis.

Statistics from the Central Bank of Reserve show that the Government´s foreign debt amounted to more than 9.15 million dollars until March 2006.