Weekly Report - 8 February 2007

ECUADOR | Budget proposal cuts debt payments. President Rafael Correa revealed details of the government's budget proposal last week during a press conference in Guayaquil. International creditors will be concerned. The 2007 budget proposal amounts to US$9.77bn, up 14% on the 2006 budget. However, it sets aside only US$2.7bn for foreign debt payments, equivalent to 28% of the budget. This is down by more than US$1bn on 2006 when external debt payments accounted for 38% of the budget.