LatinNews Daily - 20 December 2024

*The executive board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has completed an Article IV consultation for Ecuador, as well as completing the first review of the country’s US$4bn arrangement with the Fund which was agreed in May this year. The review had already been completed at staff-level earlier in December, and the sign-off from the executive board allows for the immediate disbursement of around US$500m to Ecuador. An IMF statement released yesterday said that Ecuador’s “programme performance has been strong” amid a challenging macroeconomic backdrop that was compounded by a security crisis and a historic drought that has severely impacted electricity production. The statement added that “the authorities remain committed to their fiscal consolidation plan, which will help strengthen Ecuador’s fiscal sustainability and keep public debt on a downward path consistent with the debt target.” This plan, which the IMF said “envisages balanced efforts on the revenue and expenditure sides”, includes “mobilising non-oil revenue through permanent measures and reducing reliance on the oil sector, while containing current expenditures and protecting essential social and investment spending.”