I've seen this news elsewhere. But while i don't trust IMF that much, AFAIK they don't have strong reason to lie when they could critic El Salvador directly for pro-Bitcoin policy/action. El Salvador could prove they're not lying by showing purchase history on the exchange, but IMF can't just demand the exchange to hand over purcrase history of account owned by El Salvador government.
I think if they both have to make this clear to people, it is very possible that IMF is right. Maybe El Salvador bought some coins that people did not know before the they both make any deals. IMF said it is internal transfer which makes that possible.
It is not fair to say that El Salvador is lying about something when it comes to one man and the ruling party who lead the country and decide on everything. Therefore, the title of this topic should have been "Is Bukele lying to the world?"
Bukele did not just accept bitcoin El Salvador but it was done through their Legislative Assembly that first accepted bitcoin. The country is not authoritarian. It can be El Salvador or their president, both are correct.
Even if he is lying and the IMF is telling the truth, I wonder why anyone outside that country would wonder whether it is true or not? The past 5 years have clearly shown that Bitcoin cannot fix decades of failed political decisions, bribery, corruption and rampant crime that led to tens of thousands of people ending up in prisons, which, as someone has already said, are more like concentration camps than prisons.
Proof to who? I do not know the reason is thinking that bitcoin will fix El Salvador economy when their president or any of their government officials did not say something like that. Bitcoin is good for investment, edge against inflation if it is long term, to promote businesses and can be used fro tourist attraction but not to fix economy in general. Bitcoin was not something negative in the coin but it was of positive effects. Bitcoin is also a currency while not the dollar that makes the United States great.