WASHINGTON — The International Monetary Fund says it welcomes the decision by Ecuadorian President Lenin Moreno to cancel an austerity package following more than a week of protests.
Gita Gopinath, director of the IMF’s Research Department, said Tuesday the agency welcomes the attempt “to bring in all stakeholders and to make decisions about macro reforms taking into account the various communities that are going to be affected by it.”
Moreno and leaders of Ecuador’s indigenous groups struck a deal late Sunday to cancel an IMF-backed package that included a sharp rise in fuel prices after protests that left seven people dead and 1,152 arrested.
Gopinath did not address the status of the $4.2 billion loan Ecuador received in March during a press conference kicking off the annual meeting.
The Associated Press
