LatinNews Daily - 05 October 2020

* Ecuador’s President Lenín Moreno has announced the arrival of the first US$2bn disbursement from the US$6.5bn Extended Fund Facility (EFF) credit agreement reached with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in August, and outlined the areas in which these funds will be spent. Moreno pledged to repay debts owed to 17,000 small and medium-sized government suppliers; to increase funding for a range of social inclusion projects; to provide back pay for over 3,000 former employees of liquidated state-owned companies; to reduce the debt owed to municipal and provincial governments (although this will not be wiped out entirely); to provide a tax refund to 350,000 vulnerable Ecuadoreans (including the elderly and the disabled); and to invest an additional US$300m in the ‘Reactívate Ecuador’ programme, intended to promote economic recovery in the wake of the coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic. Moreno voiced optimism that Reactívate Ecuador will help save jobs, and thus provide a “cascade” effect to boost the economy more broadly by leading to increased consumption and production.

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