NEW YORK, May 20 (Reuters) - El Salvador and staff from the International Monetary Fund have made progress in discussing policies that could support an IMF program for the Central American country, an IMF spokesman said on Thursday. “The IMF mission feels that we have made progress in discussing macroeconomic and structural policies that could underpin a fund supported program,” Gerry Rice, a Fund spokesman, said in a scheduled press conference. El Salvador is seeking an over $1 billion program with the Fund, which was put in doubt after U.S. government officials sharply criticized the ousting of five Supreme Court judges and the dismissal of the top prosecutor earlier this month. Reporting by Rodrigo Campos Editing by Chizu Nomiyama Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.