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General Information
Telecommunications
In general, there is a telecommunications law that
guarantees the area the freedom to compete and to
develop itself. In El Salvador, telecommunications
are very advanced.
Land lines
Although there are 6 land line operators that
guarantee the availability of phones at a variety of
locations, the main operator is Claro. The number of
lines has decreased due to the impact made by cell
phone usage, but still there are over 1 million lines
in operation.
ATTENTION
Electrical current is 110-125V and 60Hz.
Plugs are “A” type with 2 flat pins.
Mobile Telephones
To illustrate the huge penetration that mobile phones
have had in the market, we can tell you that there
are more mobile telephones than inhabitants in the
country, which almost provide total coverage. Buying
cell phones is easy and inexpensive given the great
number of existing telecommunication stores from
operators such as Claro, Movistar, Digicel and TIGO.
Currency
On January 1st. 2001, The Monetary Integration
Law became effective. The US Dollar is the legal
currency in El Salvador together with the Salvadoran
Colón, the local currency, which has practically
vanished from circulation.
Banks
Since the acquisition of national banks in 2003 by
international entities, there have been great changes
in the financial system. Currently the country has a
variety of banks such as Citibank, HSBC, Scotiabank,
BancoAgrícola, Banco Promérica, Banco deAmérica
Central, Banco Hipotecario, Banco Procredit, G&T
Continental, Banco Multisectorial de Inversiones,
Banco de Fomento Agropecuario and most recently
Banco Industrial and Banco Azteca among others.
Even though there are international financial groups
in operation, opening a bank account demands many
requirements from a foreigner such as passport, NIT
(Unique Tax Identification Number), and a residence
card. You must wait six months before you can
receive or send an international transfer. As a result,
in case of an emergency it is better to use a money
remittance service, a service that is quite developed
due to the fact that Salvadorans living abroad send
many remittances.
ATTENTION
Opening a bank account for a foreigner
is a difficult task despite the fact there
are international banks in the country.
Indicative Prices
A bottle of water (500 cl): 0.75 US$
A beer: 1.50 US$
A typical plate of food: starts at 4US$
A newspaper: 1US$
Taxi: starts at 4US$
A cell phone: the cheapest costs 15US$
A Coke: 1US$
Money Exchange
Due to the great number of existing banks, currency
exchange is easy; money transactions are facilitated
by the fact that the national currency is the dollar.
MONEY
Credit Cards
There are many banks and ATM’s that accept the
majority of mayor credit cards. Commercially their
use is widely extended as a method of payment.
Don´t forget to call your family