President Lenin Moreno said on Wednesday that Ecuador has reached a $4.2 billion staff-level financing deal with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) as the Andean country grapples with a large fiscal deficit and heavy external debt.
Speaking in a message broadcast on national television and radio, the President added that the country will also receive $6 billion in loans from multilateral institutions including the World Bank, the Inter-American Development Bank, and the CAF Andean development bank adding that the maturities on the loans extended “up to 30 years” and that the interest rates “on average” did not exceed 5 percent.
Ecuador’s sovereign bonds surged last week after the IMF confirmed it was engaged in formal talks with Moreno over a possible financial arrangement. Staff-level agreements between the IMF and member countries are subject to approval by the Washington-based lender’s executive board.
The OPEC nation’s debt grew under former leftist President Rafael Correa. Moreno earned Correa’s support during the 2017 election campaign, but has implemented more market-friendly economic policies since taking office.