LatinNews Daily - 10 December 2024

*The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has reached a staff-level agreement with Ecuador in the first review of the country’s economic reform programme, which is supported by a US$4bn, 48-month Extended Fund Facility (EFF) approved in May this year. An IMF statement said that, subject to approval by the IMF’s executive board, Ecuador will have access to the next tranche of US$500m in funding. The statement said that “all end-August 2024 quantitative performance criteria and indicative targets for the first review of the EFF arrangement have been met, and implementation of structural reforms is progressing well.” The IMF praised “decisive policy steps and reforms undertaken by the authorities, which have strengthened the fiscal and external positions and catalysed access to financing,” stating that “the authorities’ policy actions and reforms are helping to safeguard dollarisation, enhance macroeconomic and financial stability, strengthen fiscal sustainability, and protect vulnerable groups, and are expected to foster a stronger and more inclusive economy.” It added that these steps have been taken “amid a challenging macroeconomic environment and renewed pressures from the electricity crisis caused by a historic drought”.