SHANGHAI: China’s Export Import Bank granted Ecuador a $5.3 billion credit line after a slide in oil to 5-01/2 year low prompted spending cuts for the OPEC member.
Rafael Correa, Ecuador’s President, traveled to China this week to ask for loans to help prop up public spending after the price of crude, Ecuador’s biggest export, plunged to its lowest level since April 2009.
The government announced yesterday that it would cut the 2015 budget by $1.42 billion, or almost 4 per cent, because of a decline in oil revenue.
Fausto Herrera, Ecuador’s finance minister said that the Andean nation will use about $1.5 billion of the funds this year to finance public work projects such as irrigation and transportation. The credit line will have a 30 year maturity and an interest rate of 2 per cent.
