Minister of Electricity confirms they will focus on subsidies

Image: Expreso

Esteban Albornoz, Minister of Electricity, said that electricity in Ecuador is the cheapest in the region.” “We are reviewing the subject, doing analysis and then we will present the results to President Rafael Correa.” He announced: “we are talking about an appropriate focus of subsidies.”

Roberto Aspiazu, executive director of the Ecuadorian Business Committee (CEE for its Spanish acronym), said it is not clear how the government intends to withdraw electricity subsidies, as it has been said that from next year cheaper energy will be produced by hydroelectric plants. However, he knows that this is a period of adjustment. The finance minister talked about a cut of 6,000 million dollars in the budget, and that means reviewing subsidies, said Aspiazu. It seems that removing the gas subsidy is more difficult, because the plan of replacing gas cookers with induction cookers did not work, he said.

Ecuador spent, according to the Ministry of Finance, about 6.213 million dollars in subsidies in 2014, the bulk went to fuels (diesel, gas) and the poverty bonus (715 million dollars). For electricity subsidy, the state only spent 43 million.

Source: http://expreso.ec/expreso/plantillas/nota.aspx?idart=8607234&idcat=38269&tipo=2