Exporters will receive incentives from June
Ecuadornews:
Finance and Foreign Trade prepare mechanism to pay arrears by drawback and CAT. The debt would amount to $ 180 million, according to Fedexpor. Starting in June, a payment mechanism will operate to settle commitments that the State has with the export sector due to the simplified tax return (drawback) and Tax Credit Certificates (CAT).
The disbursement of the resources had difficulties since 2015 and in the case of the CATs it was suspended in 2016. Until December of last year the pending accumulated approximately $ 180 million, according to the Ecuadorian Federation of Exporters (Fedexpor).
The Economy Minister, Richard Martinez, reported that the legal framework for proceeding with payments is already in place with the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Investment (MCEI). “The Minister of Foreign Trade (Pablo Campana) commented that it would be important to use part of these funds for promotion,” Martinez said.
The refund of foreign trade taxes was implemented in 2015 with tariffs of 3% to 5% on the raw materials, inputs and capital goods imported by the exporters for the elaboration of their products.
The measure sought to compensate exporters for the international fall in prices. For this incentive the State accumulates pending for around $ 120 million, from the regime of Rafael Correa.
Fedexpor estimates that if they return $ 350 million to the sector through this mechanism, exports will increase by an average of $ 500 million per year. The promise of payment by Lenin Moreno’s government has not been made effective so far.
Iván Ontaneda, president of Fedexpor, is confident that this time the offer will be finalized, either through a payment plan or a full refund.
“The commitments of any party must be honored and fulfilled. Maybe at this time you cannot attend quickly with all the pending values, but it is important to establish a route and comply with it, “Ontaneda said.
With respect to the CAT, the debt is around $ 60 million. The certificates appeared in 2013 after Ecuador unilaterally renounced the Andean Trade Preferences Act (Atpdea). The instrument compensates the tariffs that Ecuadorian products pay to enter the United States. (I)
Source: https://www.eltelegrafo.com.ec/noticias/economia/4/exportadores-incentivos-ecuador