I want to add to the little exercise I did in my column last week. I remind you: it was a list of various issues in the national economic environment – some are also related to the international environment – so you can put your own checks, positive or negative. Today I am adding my review which I hope you will find useful…

– Ecuadorian oil price. Middle check: negative trend, but could improve in the year.

– Deposits in the financial system. Positive check with medium tendency.

– Insecurity? A negative check with an even more negative trend.

– The influence of the drug economy. Check in collective life very negative, but brings “economic movement” in certain areas.

– Private export. Positive check with some reduction.

– Natural phenomena (El Niño phenomenon, Cotopaxi volcano)? Check low risk but dangerous.

– Remittances. Check positive.

– New trade agreements reached with several countries. Check positive.

– Politics. A negative check, towards an even more negative one.

– Dollar in the world. Check positive.

(…) You also put your positive or negative check and draw your own conclusions, please.

– World interest rates. Negative check with trend to medium in 2024.

– Different prices in the world (food, container transport, aluminum). Positive check with some negative surprises (sugar).

– Geopolitical risks and global conflicts. Check medium risk but dangerous.

– Country risk. A negative check.

– Promotion of mining and oil (responsible and legal). A negative check.

– Labor market. A negative check.

– Migrations of Ecuadorians. A negative check.

– Consumption in the country. Positive check with medium tendency.

– Reforms like labor or social security? A negative check.

– Poverty and extreme poverty. Negative check with medium tendency.

– Tax bills. Intermediate check (certainly there is a better account balance and less debt, but there are different interpretations of how this is achieved).

– Fuel subsidy. A negative check.

– Interest rates in Ecuador. Medium to negative check.

– International reserves. Check positive.

– Inflation in Ecuador. Check positive.

– Growth of economic activity. Middle check.

– Demographic dividend (population structure) in Ecuador. Check positive.

– Productivity (better use of resources to create value in different areas: social, economic, institutional, etc.). A negative check.

Other topics will be missing, no doubt, but you too put your positive or negative checkmark and draw your own conclusions, please.

And, as a friend well told me, we must carry out the evaluation keeping in mind the following question: can we solve at least three important problems with all the positives and negatives: insecurity, employment and supply (correct functioning) of the health unit?health? (OR)