Ecuador: Moreno Discloses Program to Boost Economy

President Lenin Moreno unveils the government's development plans aimed at boosting the Ecuadorean economy during a state program address.

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On Monday, Moreno disclosed the Economic Program for Fiscal Stabilization and Productive Reactivation, which is scheduled to roll out within the first year of his administration.

"This program includes those structural elements that we have to overcome, one of which is that we cannot sustain growth with debt and consumption, but rather an improvement in productivity," the president stated during El Presidente Informa's weekly broadcast.

Moreno explained that the economic plan focuses on four major areas and 14 action measures, centered on promoting foreign investment, generating more employment, carrying out tax reforms, reducing spending and indebtedness.

"With this program, we seek to preserve the rights of the majorities, stabilize the country's economy, reactivate production and promote job creation with efficiency, transparency and co-responsibility."

The four major areas the administration will focus on are stability and fiscal balance, restructuring and optimization of the State, a balance of the external sector and the sustainability of dollarization and productive reactivation.

The head of state said the government will “reduce the fiscal deficit and the need for indebtedness, with a greater efficiency in tax collection.” The plan, he added, is to slash the deficit in two – from 5.64 percent to 2.47 percent – within the next three years.

During the address, Moreno said the restructuring process would put “special emphasis on the quality of public spending, efficiency, institutional austerity and the reduction of the size of the State” to boost the economy.

“We are going to export more, attract investments and intelligently control the exit of foreign currency,” Moreno also declared, adding “We will strengthen the private sector as an engine of economic growth in close relationship with the public sector.”

The implementation of specific policies is required to achieve the Ecuadorean government's overall projections.

These, Moreno detailed, includes increases in tariff ceilings, fixing taxes, promoting of alliances between the public and private sectors, reducing the number of advisers in each institution and administration travel expenses as well as gradually reducing the Currency Exit Tax.