In September 2020, El Diario de Hoy published that El Salvador was on the list of countries eligible for a Fomilenio III, according to an MCC report sent to the United States Congress.
US Ambassador to El Salvador, Ronald Johnson, said this morning, during the inauguration of a National Institute of Nahuizalco, in Sonsonate, that El Salvador has not lost Fomilenio III, because “the opportunity never existed”.
“We had Fomilenio I and now we are reaching the closure of Fomilenio II. Only nine countries in the world have had two programs and none have had three programs. I asked that question in Washington DC before I came. We never had a chance at Fomilenio III. So El Salvador did not lose Fomilenio III, the opportunity never existed, ”he said.
His statements are made in the context of a debate over the non-compliance with Fomilenio II deadlines and key indicators of corruption that the country has failed to meet in order to qualify for benefits from the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC for the acronym in English)
El Diario de Hoy published this in September 2020 In an MCC report sent to the United States Congress, El Salvador was included in the list of eligible countries for a third fund compact for the 2021 financial year.
In the lower-middle-income candidate country category, El Salvador topped the list, followed by Sri Lanka (in South Asia) and Tunisia (in North Africa), according to the MCC report released September 8.
“We have already approved the money for Fomilenio and they have spent it,” asks Margarita Escobar.
However, its capabilities were limited after the failure of corruption indicators required by the MCC for the fourth consecutive year within a schedule of 20 indicators in total
In addition, the failure to meet the Fomilenio II deadlines was added to the government’s refusal to transfer the counterparty’s funds to the US program, despite having obtained money from international loans.
Due to this financial deadlock, Fomilenio II closes administratively until April 30 in order not to lose the deadlines of the contracts of major projects that have not yet been completed and can be resumed once the legal conflict over the funds is resolved.
In his comments, Ambassador Johnson recalled that US aid programs such as Fomilenio are designed to complement other development programs “to supplement them, not replace them,” he added.