Weekly Report - 08 October 2015 (WR-15-40)

ECUADOR | Expecting negligible 2015 growth. The economy grew by just 1% year-on-year in the second quarter, Ecuador’s central bank (BCE) reported on 30 September. This is the weakest quarterly result for the country since 2007. A 0.3% quarter-on-quarter contraction compared to the first quarter of the year led the BCE to revise down its economic growth forecast for the year (made in June) from 1.9% to a negligible 0.4%. This latest forecast contrasts starkly with the 3.7% growth rate Ecuador posted in 2014 and shows to what extent the dollarised economy has been affected by the fall in international oil prices and the rapid appreciation of the US dollar this year.