Figures from the Ministry of Finance and the BCE on oil presales do not match

Ecuador’s oil presales to China and Thailand reached $ 8,535 million in eight years (between 2009 and August 2016), according to figures released by the Ministry of Finance.

The information also states that, of this amount, Ecuador has already paid some $ 6,853 million in the same period, i.e. 80.29%.

The oil presales announced by the government, which mean the delivery of anticipated liquid resources (generating interest) by companies such as PetroChina, Unipec and Petrotailandia (in exchange for Ecuadorian oil), were an important source of financing for the country, although the Government does not record it as debt.

In light of Finance figures, the balance of Ecuador’s obligations for these liabilities was $ 1,682 million at that date. However, the Central Bank of Ecuador (BCE for its Spanish acronym) handles a different balance.

According to the agency, the balance to August 2016 would be $ 639.1 million. This last figure is close to that announced by the Coordinating Minister of Economic Policy, Patricio Rivera, a few days ago, indicating that the pre-sale balance is equivalent to 0.7% of GDP (about $ 673 million).

For former Finance Minister Fausto Ortiz, the difference in figures was manifested since 2014, because the numbers of the BCE and the Finance Ministry were very similar until 2013.

The former official recalled that this year about $ 820 million were recorded as an oil presale, which in turn was also designated as a Petroecuador EP debt to China.