“The situation is very difficult and Ecuador is in the worst moment.” With these words, President Daniel Noboa asked for the support of civil society and private companies to overcome the economic crisis the country is going through.

In this sense, the president announced that the first project that he will present is the Emergency Economic Law to increase employment.

“This is how we will lead Ecuador towards a better future,” said the president; However, he did not say what measures the proposal would contain or when it would be sent to the National Assembly for analysis and processing.

Noboa gave his message on Monday afternoon, November 27, from the Carondelet Palace, where he was accompanied by the Minister of Economy and Finance, Juan Carlos Vega, who revealed alarming figures about the economic conditions left by the government of Guillermo Lasso.

The Minister of Finance said that they received the country with a “serious economic situation”.

“Indeed, we have the worst fiscal fund history with barely $184 million in the Treasury Single Account and arrears of $2,872 million, with IESS, with GAD and several key public and private sector institutions in the country,” Vega expressed.

He regretted that this situation exists when there are “priority needs” in terms of safety, health, the possible El Niño phenomenon “and unavoidable costs” such as salaries, transfers to social security and local authorities.

He reported that this year is expected to close with a fiscal deficit of more than $5,000 million, equivalent to 5% of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP).

As for the public debt, the Minister of Economy stated that it amounts to 63 billion dollars, between internal and external debt.

Furthermore, he mentioned that in the last 10 years there has been a 9% drop in income per inhabitant, “due to the little real growth we have had; That is, it is an extremely impoverished country.”

He pointed out that the country’s risk indicator is around 2,000 basis points, which “excludes” Ecuador from access to loans on “normal debt markets” and that it “complicates” attracting investment.

“We receive an economy that does not create formal or adequate employment, which makes it a great seed for insecurity and violence, and labor legislation that encourages informality,” summed up Juan Carlos Vega.

He then detailed that several “additional complications” are coming by 2024:

This, he said, will emerge as “emerging needs” arise related to El Niño, the energy crisis and “increasing costs to combat insecurity.”

Given this scenario, the Minister of Economy said that it is necessary to “ensure resources” to strengthen security, employment and protection of the most vulnerable.

“Motivate society as a whole to make extra efforts to help us overcome this difficult economic situation, letting us know that there are no easy solutions for Ecuadorians, we need the support of all Ecuadorians, and above all the most privileged ones. Vega said, without going into detail about what this message will mean for taxpayers.

He also reported that approaches are being held with multilateral organizations “to ensure greater new, current and future funding”.

He assured that the Government’s commitment is “to work on sustainable public finances and growth with capital”.