Will it be another term for El Salvador's Bitcoin President?

Live from the BBC World Service, this is the Marketplace Morning Report.

I'm Luke Wilson in for Leanna Byrne.

Good morning.

Voters in El Salvador head to the polls on

Sunday with a landslide win all but guaranteed for President Naeib Bekele. He's

transformed the country in his first term with a crackdown on gangs

that's taken El Salvador from being a country notorious for crime and violence

to having one of the lowest homicide rates in the Americas, but critics say he's been able to do that by ignoring

civil liberties and human rights.

There are also concerns about the economy.

Christine Murray is the Mexico and Central America correspondent for the Financial Times.

Hi Christine.

Hi Luke.

So how big a part is the economy playing in this election?

Because of the improvements in security, which for a long time polls showed

were the number one concern for a lot of voters now, the main concern people have is the economy. Food inflation has been high, people are really feeling

the squeeze of the cost of living and hoping that by voting for Naid Bukly again, he might be able to turn that situation around like he did with security.

And foreign investment has been pretty weak. In recent years it was actually negative in 2022, recovered a bit

last year but still well below neighbouring countries and growth. Similarly the economy

is going to grow about 2% this year, much less than its neighbours Honduras and Guatemala.

And when I was there speaking to voters, people said that they wanted more and better work opportunities that were higher paid.

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