President Noboa assures that they are trying to “reset” Ecuador’s economy

The president of EcuadorDaniel Noboa, stated this Thursday that they try “to reset” the country’s economy, attract foreign investment and generate an ecosystem in which there is employment and stability.

After mentioning the difficult economic situation that the country faced, Noboa He said that they “They hid many figures” and, upon assuming office on November 23, they met “quite a few surprises”.

The head of state commented that “Adequate, competitive taxes increase revenue from transaction volume”.

“That does not mean that taxes are raised, revenue is raised.“, he said and recalled that an urgent economic law for youth employment has already been approved in the National Assembly, and a second related to energy is being studied, which seeks to open the possibility of private investments in transmission, as well as in greater private generation .

What they are looking for – he commented – is to return to the State “more efficient: costs are lowered, we are going to reduce many expenses that exist at this time”.

“Likewise, create an ecosystem of job creation and greater collection by volume and Value Added Tax (VAT), without raising taxes, and reduce the deficit as much as possible. As the State grows more, the percentage deficit becomes smaller, the debt capacity also becomes greater.“, said.

And he stressed that what they are looking for is “reset Ecuador’s economy, attract foreign investment and generate an ecosystem also in which there is employment and stability. In the important laws we have achieved more than 100 votes (in the National Assembly), speaking things clearly from the beginning“, he said in a radio interview broadcast by the Presidency.

“Very complicated” situation

Economic analyst Alberto Acosta-Burneo commented to EFE that the economic situation in Ecuador this year “it’s going to be very complicated“, it’s a “year in which we are experiencing a deep fiscal crisis. The Government has had to resort to all kinds of creative options (at the end of 2023) to try to complete the budget”.

“This complex scenario adds to an even more worrying factor and that is the closure of Ecuador’s fourth oil block, which must take place in August and which will imply, according to the Central Bank, a destruction of around 32,000 jobs and a fall in the accumulated economic growth in the next 4 years of 2.9 percentage points”he added.

In 2023, Ecuador became the first country in the world to vote to close an oil exploitation and in 2024 it will have the mission of complying with the decision of that historic plebiscite held in August, which orders the closure of the wells and dismantling Block 43-ITT , located in the Yasuní National Park, considered the heart of the Ecuadorian Amazon.

Thus, Ecuadorians chose to leave oil reserves worth US$13.8 billion in the subsoil indefinitely for the next 20 years, according to estimates by the state company Petroecuador, which since 2016 began exploiting that field, one of the largest. important in the country.

All this makes 2024 “be a very difficult year. The Central Bank foresees a deep economic slowdown, a growth of just 0.8%, which is a challenge at the level of the lack of employment and the difficulty of citizens to generate well-being”said Acosta-Burneo.

And he insisted that the situation “It’s going to be complex. The Government, so far, has managed to solve the problem.”.