Helping Ecuador Confront the Pandemic
To support Ecuador’s stabilization and recovery program in the short term and help its economy become more dynamic and competitive in the medium term, the IMF’s Executive Board approved a new $6.5 billion Extended Fund Facility arrangement on September 30, 2020. How is the Ecuadorian economy, six months into the pandemic? The pandemic and the sharp fall in oil prices had a devastating impact on the Ecuadorian economy. Preliminary data indicates that economic activity collapsed by a record 12.4 percent in the second quarter, compared to a 2.3 percent decline in the first quarter. This was driven by contractions of 18.5 percent in total investment and 12 percent in private consumption. Unemployment jumped to 13 percent in June, ten points above the end of last year, and hundreds of thousands have been pushed into poverty.
