* Ecuador’s central bank (BCE) has announced that the country’s GDP grew by 4.3% in the final quarter of 2022 compared with the same period in 2021, bringing total GDP growth in 2022 to 2.9%. This exceeded the 2.7% growth forecast by the BCE in September. However, the BCE lowered its growth forecast for 2023 from 3.1% to 2.6%, citing a deceleration in oil exports.