QUITO, Nov 3 (Reuters) - Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa on Saturday urged an upcoming government-controlled assembly to scrap oil saving funds and ease the locks on central bank reserves to boost public investment.
"These funds... will have to be dissolved by the assembly," said Correa during his weekly radio address. "The (central bank) reserves have no use in a dollarized economy."
Correa said those funds would be used to boost national production. He did not say whether he wanted to dissolve all four saving funds that gather more than $1 billion and are earmarked mostly for energy and infrastructure investment. The central bank said last week its dollar reserves rose to $3.9 billion.
The 130-member assembly is expected to start a 6-month debate for constitutional changes later this month.
Correa also reiterated his plans to overhaul the economy ministry and turn into a treasury ministry to solely handle the national budget and public credit.
It is not clear if the overhaul would undermine the influence of Economy Minister Fausto Ortiz, a pragmatist respected by foreign investors who are nervous about government pledges to restructure the country's foreign debt.
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