“It is unnecessary to prohibit through a law both state institutions and private sector companies to pay salaries with bitcoin (BTC) in El Salvador.” This statement corresponds to deputy Guillermo Gallegos, representative of the political party Grand Alliance for National Unity (GANA), who offered these statements on Tuesday, June 22, 2021 to the newspaper El Mundo of the Central American nation.
According to the parliamentarian the promise of the Minister of Finance of El Salvador, Alejandro Zelaya, who assured that wages and payments received by workers will be paid in dollars.
I do not believe that it is through a law, if the government already said that it is not going to pay salaries or bonuses in bitcoins, we have the president’s word already.
Guillermo Gallegos, deputy for the party WINS.
For his part, Congressman Reynaldo López Cardoza, of the National Concertación Party (PCN), agreed with the statements of his partner Guillermo Gallegos when he said that “salaries have to be paid in dollars, not with bitcoin.”
Previously the opposition deputies Anabel Belloso and Dina Argueta presented last Wednesday, June 16, a bill to reform the law that it seeks to remove bitcoin (BTC) as legal tender in El Salvador.
As CriptoNoticias reported on that date, the legislators questioned the” enforceability ” expressed by the law on the use of bitcoin to pay for products or services. For the Bitcoin Law was drafted without consultation and approved in an accelerated manner, without the necessary debates.
The controversy over the Bitcoin Law
Last June 8 Legislative Assembly of El Salvador approved, by majority, the Bitcoin Law, as reported by this media. This came amid a controversy over whether the use of cryptocurrency should be mandatory or not. The debate was attended by deputies of the New Ideas party, who assured that its use was voluntary, while President Nayib Bukele said it was mandatory.
Subsequently, on 15 June of the current year, the Minister of Labor, Rolando Castro, he said in an interview that the Executive was analyzing the possibility of salaries being paid with the cryptocurrency. This statement was faced by the Minister of Finance, Alejandro Zelaya, who said that wages will continue to be paid in dollars.
It is expected that next September 7 bitcoin will be considered as legal tender in El Salvador. On that date the Bitcoin Law will come into effect, with “unrestricted liberatory power, unlimited in any transaction and under any title.” Their receipt will be mandatory in all sales of goods and services, as established by law.
At the international level, multilateral agencies such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank have noted problems for the adoption of bitcoin as legal tender in El Salvador.
In this regard, Gerry Rice, a spokesman for the IMF, said that the adoption of bitcoin it raises a number of macroeconomic, financial and legal problems. For its part, the World Bank denied the technical assistance requested by El Salvador to adopt bitcoin. The body considers that it can not support the implementation of cryptocurrency in the country’s economy because of the environmental and transparency deficiencies that this implies.