cyu
19th April 2007, 18:15
Ecuador to Sever IMF Ties
By Associated Press
QUITO, Ecuador -- Ecuador's leftist president said Sunday the country has paid off its debt to the International Monetary Fund and will sever ties with the financial institution.
In a news conference in the port city Guayaquil, Rafael Correa said it was a "happy coincidence" that Ecuador made the $9 million payment to the "international bureaucracy" the same week fellow leftist country Venezuela said it had paid off its remaining debt with the IMF and World Bank.
"We don't want to hear anything more from that international bureaucracy," Correa said, brushing off suspicions that "we are imitating brother nation Venezuela."
When he took office three months ago, Correa, a U.S.-trained economist, vowed to renegotiate the country's $16.4 billion foreign debt and direct resources to programs to help the poor.
Correa, a staunch ally of Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez, has frequently criticized the "unacceptable conditions" of IMF loans, and said Sunday that the institution has "been harmful for the country."
On Sunday, Correa scored a major victory as Ecuadoreans voted overwhelmingly to support his ambitious plan to remake the nation's system of government and weaken its discredited Congress, an exit poll showed.
Voters across this small Andean nation turned out to cast ballots on the need for a special assembly to rewrite the constitution -- a measure many hope will bring economic improvement to their lives.
An exit poll by CEDATOS-Gallup showed that 78.1 percent of voters approved the election of a constitutional assembly while 11.5 percent rejected the proposal and 10.4 spoiled their ballots or cast blank ones.
http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/wo...world-headlines (http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/world/wire/sns-ap-ecuador-imf-debt,0,7840663.story?coll=sns-ap-world-headlines)
By Associated Press
QUITO, Ecuador -- Ecuador's leftist president said Sunday the country has paid off its debt to the International Monetary Fund and will sever ties with the financial institution.
In a news conference in the port city Guayaquil, Rafael Correa said it was a "happy coincidence" that Ecuador made the $9 million payment to the "international bureaucracy" the same week fellow leftist country Venezuela said it had paid off its remaining debt with the IMF and World Bank.
"We don't want to hear anything more from that international bureaucracy," Correa said, brushing off suspicions that "we are imitating brother nation Venezuela."
When he took office three months ago, Correa, a U.S.-trained economist, vowed to renegotiate the country's $16.4 billion foreign debt and direct resources to programs to help the poor.
Correa, a staunch ally of Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez, has frequently criticized the "unacceptable conditions" of IMF loans, and said Sunday that the institution has "been harmful for the country."
On Sunday, Correa scored a major victory as Ecuadoreans voted overwhelmingly to support his ambitious plan to remake the nation's system of government and weaken its discredited Congress, an exit poll showed.
Voters across this small Andean nation turned out to cast ballots on the need for a special assembly to rewrite the constitution -- a measure many hope will bring economic improvement to their lives.
An exit poll by CEDATOS-Gallup showed that 78.1 percent of voters approved the election of a constitutional assembly while 11.5 percent rejected the proposal and 10.4 spoiled their ballots or cast blank ones.
http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/wo...world-headlines (http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/world/wire/sns-ap-ecuador-imf-debt,0,7840663.story?coll=sns-ap-world-headlines)