(Quito) Ecuador is trying to renegotiate the payment of its debt to China, which amounts to around 5.2 billion dollars, in anticipation of an upcoming visit by President Guillermo Lasso to Beijing, the minister said on Wednesday Ecuadorian of Finance, Simon Cueva.
Posted at 5:01 p.m.
“Part of the discussion with our Chinese partners and friends is to see how we can find reasonable solutions to extend the deadlines and improve the financial conditions,” Cueva told a virtual press conference.
Mr. Lasso is due to go to China, Ecuador’s main creditor, in early February. Beijing became Quito’s main financier during the government of former socialist President Rafael Correa (2007-2017).
According to Minister Cueva, commitments with China “have relatively short maturities compared to the rest of Ecuador’s external debt”, whose liabilities amount to 46.974 billion dollars (45% of GDP).
Mr. Lasso, a former conservative banker, will meet his counterpart Xi Jinping. The Ecuadorian president announced his intention to negotiate a trade agreement with Beijing in order to increase the sale of bananas and shrimps, which are among the main exports of the country.