Ecuador Withholds on Unlawful Debts

Quito, Dec 16 (Prensa Latina) Ecuador is upholding a recently announced moratorium on 39 percent of its foreign debt, corresponding to global bonds for 2012, 2015, and 2030. The decision not to pay was announced Friday with the 2012 bonds (30.6 million dollars), and ratified Monday when Finance Minister Maria Elsa Viteri affirmed that the 30.4 million dollars corresponding to the 2015 bond will not be paid either. Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa stressed on the weekend they will not pay those commitments for they were assumed and renegotiated unlawfully, to the detriment of the country. He said the decision not to pay comprises the commercial part of the foreign debt equivalent to 39 percent of the total public debt, amounting to 9.93 billion dollars. The Ecuadorian pronouncement was made after an auditing commission detected irregularities in credit contracts. Correa also warned it is necessary to be prepared to face possible international lawsuits and even embargos.