The IMF report on Ecuador is stagnant

Ecuadornews:

Mystery and secrecy. The report presenting the conclusions of the consultation of Article IV of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Ecuador still has no date for publication, after almost five months ago a mission of the agency visited the country to perform an audit to your main economic accounts.

The IMF informed EXPRESO, through an email, that they still do not have an established date for the presentation of the report. While the Ministry of Economy and Finance (MEF) said the teams are still in the process of adjusting the figures and is expected to be released in January 2019.

The Article IV consultation is an annual study carried out by the organization on the economic situation of its associated countries. In July of this year, an IMF mission was in Ecuador to meet with representatives of the Government and the private sector and to review the most important economic figures.

In the preliminary statements, the IMF mission said that among the most worrisomeissues are the fiscal deficit and the growing debt. At that time it was scheduled that the report with the conclusions be presented between September and October of the current year.

In thecase of Chile, for example, the IMF mission visited that country in September and the conclusions were presented this month. In Colombia, the visit was in Marchand the report was published at the end of April.

What could be the reasons that are holding back the publication of the report? Economists consulted by Diario EXPRESO agree that there is a delay and raise several reasons.

 Miguel Ricaurte, chief economist of Itaú Bank, who has also worked with the Monetary Fund, explained that for the document to be disclosed there must be an approval of the country, and there are probably disagreements on some details of the results.

The analyst believes that it is a fact that an agreement is being negotiated in view of Ecuador’s high financing needs for 2019 and that the report can be published when it is announced.

For Munir Jalil, chief economist of Citibank for the Andean Region, the delay in the publication of the report is unknown, because some figures have already been disclosed by the IMF. The expert also believes that there may bed iscrepancies in some amounts or in “detail” between the Ecuadorian authorities and the International Monetary Fund. (I)

Source: https://www.expreso.ec/economia/fmi-ecuador-finanzas-gobierno-analisis-JM2493487