[ad_1]
Conservative businessman Guillermo Lasso was sworn in as the new president of Ecuador on Monday, and gave a dark speech at the congress on the economic and social challenges facing his government.
A 65-year-old man who was shocked winning last month’s election, said previous Ecuadorian leaders had failed the country in the temptation of authoritarianism and ” leader”- A strong man who has so often dominated Latin American politics.
“Today we are receiving a country with a historic level of unemployment, which has been highlighted for its inability to deal with a cruel pandemic,” he told visitors including Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro and Spanish King Felipe. “Other countries in a similar situation have tackled it in a more orderly and effective way, and above all without corruption.”
Walking with the help of a lax look and a stick, the result of a foot accident in 2013 and then a wrong operation. tremendous challenges As the leader of Ecuador.
Lasso, which had wealth in the banking sector before entering politics and won the presidency in its third attempt, is “a country where the guilty fill their pockets, while the most innocent (newborn Ecuadorians) can’t fill their stomachs,” and “a country that failed in education and job creation.” .
The country’s economy was in trouble even before the coronavirus pandemic. It contracted almost 8% last year, and the central bank expects it to recover only 3.1% this year.
Debts rose to 65% of gross domestic product and the fiscal deficit widened. As the only formally dollarized country in South America, Ecuador is at the limit of what it can do to consolidate its finances.
He affirmed last year $ 6.5 million loan program With the NDF, however, as the pandemic hit, it was unable to meet the requirements. Lasso declined to consider some of the tax increases requested by the fund.
Simón Cueva, a 53-year-old economist, has been appointed finance minister.
“It’s a good appointment,” said Sebastián Hurtado, Prófitas ’head of local political risk advisory. “In addition to the summary in the central bank, Cueva has spent most of his time in the private sector and in academic research. It’s not as neoliberal as some other economists close to Lasso, and we might see more importance in social policies than we would expect. “
Cueva said Ecuador will begin negotiations with the IMF to adapt the current program in the coming months.
“I hope the Lasso government has a healthy relationship with the fund,” Hurtado said. “The problem will not be reaching an agreement. It is being set “.
Another challenge facing the Laso government immediately is the pandemic.
According to the analysis by the Financial Times, Ecuador has had the second worst excessive deaths in the world since the start of the health emergency. The answer has been chaotic: there have been five health ministers in the last year.
Lasso said his government will oversee the vaccination of 9 million people in its first 100 days, more than half of the population – an ambitious goal for a country that has administered less than 2 million.
[ad_2]
Source link
