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Conservative businessman Guillermo Lasso was sworn in as Ecuador’s new president on Monday and delivered a grim speech at congress on the massive economic and social challenges facing his government.
The 65-year-old man, who surprised everyone winning last month’s election, said Ecuador’s previous leaders had failed the country by succumbing to the temptation of authoritarianism and “the obscene worship of Ecuador. cabdill”- the strong man who has so often dominated Latin American politics.
“Today we receive a country with historical levels of unemployment, a country that has stood out for its inability to deal with a brutal pandemic,” he told visiting dignitaries, including Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro and King Felipe of Spain Felipe. “Other countries in similar situations have approached it in a more orderly, efficient and above all without corruption manner.”
Seemingly fragile and walking with the help of a stick, as a result of a walking accident in 2013 followed by a failed operation, huge challenges as the leader of Ecuador.
Lasso, who made a fortune in the banking sector before entering politics and winning the presidency in his third attempt, described Ecuador as “a country where the culprits fill their pockets while the most innocent (Ecuadorians just to be born) they cannot even fill their stomachs “, and” a country that has failed its youth in education and in creating opportunities “.
The country’s economy was in trouble even before the coronavirus pandemic. Last year it contracted by almost 8% and the central bank expects a recovery of 3.1% this year alone.
Debt has jumped to 65% of gross domestic product and the fiscal deficit has widened. As the only formally dollarized country in South America, Ecuador has a limitation on what it can do to maintain its finances.
Last year he agreed a $ 6.5 billion loan program with the IMF, however, due to the success of the pandemic, it found that it could not meet the requirements. Lasso has refused to consider some of the tax hikes the fund has called for.
He has appointed Simón Cueva, a 53-year-old economist, as Minister of Finance.
“It’s a good appointment,” said Sebastian Hurtado, head of local political risk consultancy Prófitas. “Apart from a brief stint at the central bank, Cueva has spent most of that time in the private sector and in academic research. It is not as neoliberal as some of the other economists close to Lasso, and we could see more emphasis on social policies than one might expect. “
Cueva said Ecuador will begin negotiations with the IMF to modify the current program in the coming months.
“I hope the Lasso government has a good relationship with the fund,” Hurtado said. “The problem will not be to reach an agreement. It will be implementing it ”.
The other immediate challenge facing the Lasso government is the pandemic.
According to an analysis by the Financial Times, Ecuador has suffered the second worst excess death rate in the world since the health emergency began. The answer has been chaotic: There were five health ministers last year.
Lasso said his government will oversee the vaccination of 9 million people, more than half the population, in its first 100 days, an ambitious goal for a country that has managed less than 2 million.
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