Economy & Business - June 2022

The release of Ecuador’s fiscal statistics for the first quarter of 2022 evidenced two divergent trends. Public investment plunged to just US$67m in Q1, at the same time as state revenues went in the opposite direction, hitting significant highs. The investment statistics were generally received poorly, coming amid growing discontent with the state of public infrastructure and accusations that the government is doing too little to tackle rising crime. President Guillermo Lasso’s government has since indicated that planned investment spending will increase this year, and his proposals for increased spending have been backed by Ecuador’s main creditor, the International Monetary Fund (IMF). In addition to serving a political purpose, targeted greater public investment could also bolster economic growth which is expected to slow down somewhat this year.