El Salvador's President outlines measures to overcome global economic crisis

The President of El Salvador, Nayib Bukele, announced a set of measures to mitigate effects of global economic crisis, which has deepened in the wake of the situation in Ukraine.

He noted on Friday, that the crisis caused by the coronavirus pandemic was exacerbated by the ongoing conflict "between Russia, Ukraine and NATO.''

"There are a total of 11 measures. The first is that we are going to initially suspend the tax of the stabilisation fund and economic development for three months.

"I say initially because we expect stabilisation of the situation in Ukraine'' Bukele said in his address on the national television.

He added that another measure was the abolition of the transportation fee for gasoline to reduce fuel prices.

Other measures included punishment for violating hydrocarbon trade rules, the adoption of maximum gas prices, stricter checks on the sale of gas cylinders and payment for public transport.

And a one-year exemption from import tariffs on 20 products that made up the main food basket.

On Feb. 24, Russia launched a military operation in Ukraine after the breakaway Donbas republics appealed for help in defending themselves against the Ukrainian military.

In response, Western nations rolled out a comprehensive sanctions campaign against Moscow.