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LatinNews Daily - 28 September 2020

In brief: Ecuador relaxes fuel import regulations

* Ecuador’s President Lenín Moreno has signed a decree allowing private companies to freely import petrol fuels for both industrial and commercial use, enabling competition with state-owned oil company Petroecuador. Energy Minister René Ortiz noted that importing fuel costs Petroecuador over US$1.5bn each year, and that this liberalisation of the market will help cut state spending. Ortiz was quick to insist, however, that “the consumer need not be impacted”, as the new price control system (rolled out in June) will remain in place. However, this system only controls prices relative to those on the international market, and there is still scope for increases if global prices recover. The Ecuadorean public has previously reacted negatively to Moreno’s attempts to liberalise the sector, with widespread protests in October 2019 triggered by the attempted elimination of fuel subsidies, later withdrawn.

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