IMF slightly upgrades Ecuador’s growth forecast

QUITO, Oct. 22 (Xinhua) — The International Monetary Fund (IMF) upgraded its forecast for Ecuador’s economic growth to 0.3 percent this year, slightly above a previous projection of 0.1 percent in April, according to its latest World Economic Outlook report published Tuesday.
It also upgraded its growth forecast for Ecuador’s dollarized economy to 1.2 percent next year, up from the April projection of 0.8 percent.
The IMF expects its inflation rate to register 1.9 percent this year, above 1.4 percent it predicted in April.
Ecuador’s economy shrank 2.2 percent in the second quarter this year compared to the same period last year, Ecuador’s central bank reported in September, blaming it on a drop in household consumption, government spending and investment.
The Andean nation’s economic outlook has suffered from an energy crisis caused by the worst drought in six decades, which has led the government to implement widespread power cuts of up to 10 hours a day since Sept. 23.
Due to the energy shortage, an IMF technical team is reviewing with Ecuadorian authorities the country’s economic situation in preparation for a second disbursement of a 4 billion-U.S. dollar loan. ■