The International Monetary Fund has approved the immediate disbursement of about $138 million to El Salvador under the country's $1.4 billion financing program, even though certain performance criteria were missed.

In a press release issued Thursday, the IMF said its Executive Board had completed the second and third reviews under El Salvador's 40-month Extended Fund Facility (EFF) arrangement.

Although the country missed certain performance criteria under the program, including those tied to Bitcoin accumulation, the IMF's board granted waivers "based on strong corrective measures and renewed commitments." Performance criteria are the benchmarks a country must meet for funding to keep flowing under an IMF program, making the waivers the mechanism that allowed the disbursement to proceed despite the shortfalls.

The fund also highlighted El Salvador's progress on financial sector reforms, fiscal transparency and anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing (AML/CFT) reforms, alongside the transfer of majority ownership and control of the government-run Chivo Bitcoin wallet to a private operator. Chivo was launched when El Salvador became the first country to adopt Bitcoin as legal tender in 2021, making its handover a concrete marker of the program's push to scale back state involvement in Bitcoin.

"Efforts will continue to reduce the state's involvement in Bitcoin-related activities, strengthen crypto-asset regulation and governance, and enhance transparency regarding public-sector crypto-asset holdings," the IMF said, adding: "No further Bitcoin accumulation is envisaged beyond the documented donations."

As Cointelegraph reported on Sept. 4, El Salvador used no public resources to accumulate Bitcoin after the first review of its IMF financing program in June 2025, according to the lender. Documents supplied by Salvadoran authorities verified that the accumulation came from private donations, the increase in the country's holdings did not reflect additional Bitcoin purchases financed with government resources.

The IMF also confirmed that majority ownership and operational control of the Chivo wallet had been transferred to a private operator, while the government retained a minority stake and custodial responsibilities.

The clarification addressed how El Salvador's holdings grew after the first review, when the country said in November 2025 that it had acquired 1,090 BTC worth $100 million, a move that renewed questions about its compliance with the $1.4 billion IMF program. How El Salvador delivers on its remaining commitments on crypto-asset regulation and transparency over public-sector holdings is set to be assessed at future reviews under the 40-month arrangement.