The president of Ecuador, Guillermo Lasso, announced Wednesday that the country will receive US$700 million (more than 650 million euros) in social financing under an agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
«This is the Ecuador of the meeting: one that has international confidence because it knows how to manage with efficiency and transparency. Fiscal order and social focus,» the Ecuadorian president said on his Twitter profile.
According to the IMF deputy managing director, Antoinette Monsio Sayeh, Ecuador «has reached an important milestone», since its actions have contributed to «mitigate the socioeconomic effects of the pandemic», as reported by the newspaper ‘El Comercio’.
«Prudent fiscal management allowed the authorities to meet all quantitative performance criteria of end-August 2022 and the public sector is expected to achieve its first surplus since 2008,» she added.
Economy and Finance Minister Simon Cueva indicated in June that Ecuador would receive this amount if it met the conditions, adding that the funds would be allocated to social spending, road projects, security and the fight against child malnutrition.
Ecuador’s Consumer Price Index (CPI) fell in November to 3.6 percent year-on-year, a figure not recorded since May this year, when it stood at 3.4 percent, the National Statistics and Census Institute (INEC) reported last week.