Former Central Bank President Carlos Acevedo States El Salvador's Pension Reform Aims to Stabilize Public Finances, Not Increase Benefits
Carlos Acevedo, former president of El Salvador's Central Reserve Bank (BCR), stated in an interview published by El Mundo on September 28 that the country's planned pension reform for 2027 is primarily a fiscal measure, not a social one. According to Acevedo, the reform's main objective is to steady public finances rather than to increase pension benefits for retirees. This reform is a component of El Salvador's loan agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), with its implementation date pushed from February 2026 to 2027. The state's debt to private pension funds has significantly increased, reaching US$11.48 billion in March 2026, up from US$8.2 billion at the end of 2022. A 2022 reform halted interest payments on most of this debt, and economist César Villalona estimates the debt will exceed US$12 billion by December, with US$3.58 billion in unpaid interest accrued since 2022. Acevedo suggests that workers with private pension accounts should anticipate a later retirement age or higher contri...
