Municipal deregulation in El Salvador: institutional, fiscal, and citizen implications

Abstract

This article is a study on municipal dere-gulation in El Salvador and its impact on local government, analyzed from an institutional perspective, public finance, and its effects on the municipal population during the period from 2020 to 2023.It draws on reforms to regulatory frameworks, the enactment of new laws, the creation of new municipal entities, as well as fiscal indicators and signs of citizen impacts. The latter is examined through targeted press monitoring focused on the attri-butions of local governments.

The study argues that, at the municipal level, there is evidence of a structural adjust-ment characterized by declining revenues and expenditures, rising debt, and adverse effects on the living conditions of the municipal population. Furthermore, there are strong indications of growing territorial inequality in El Salvador.