Welcome to Business Daily from the BBC World Service. I'm Jane Chambers. Today we're in

El Salvador, the smallest and most densely populated Central American country. In recent years,

it's had major issues with gangs which have rocked El Salvador's stability and halted growth.

In April 2022, the government declared a state of emergency

and sent the police and military to arrest thousands of gang members

who were terrorizing the country and extorting local business owners.

The gangs will threaten us and ask for money and if we didn't pay up, they could kill you.

Now, after tackling its security problem, can this country of around 6.5 million inhabitants

get its economy under control?

I can move around El Salvador safely now.

I have a house in another part of the country that I can visit.

Before we had to ask permission from the gangs to travel through different areas they control.

Now I can travel freely.

We'll take the economic temperature of El Salvador and hear how different communities are doing.

That's all coming up in business daily.

Our clients are mostly Salvadorians who live here, but 50% are Salvadorians who live outside our country.

And right now, because of the perception of our country from outside, they are very interested in El Salvador.

Meet Karen Fuentes. She is an estate agent for a company called Remax Central. It's a hot and sticky

35 degrees outside, so the air conditioning is on at full blast in her office on the 21st floor

of a fancy building in the center of the country's capital, San Salvador.

It has incredible panoramic views of the mountains and volcanoes that surround the city

and of the best neighbourhoods clients want to make their home.

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