Ecuador seen with few options to ‘square the fiscal circle’ after scrapping subsidy cuts – Reuters

Ecuadorean President Lenin Moreno’s hastily ditched plan to terminate fuel subsidies put an end to days of indigenous-led protests but has left him with few good options to cleanse public accounts and comply with an IMF-backed financing program.

Moreno on Monday officially mothballed the subsidy cuts, which were supposed to save the government nearly $1.5 billion, returning fuel prices to their prior levels and pledging to build a new plan to tackle a $3.6 billion fiscal deficit.

The government has said the new plan will be unveiled later this week, but has given few details on what it will contain. The International Monetary Fund, which has already disbursed over $600 million of its $4.2 billion package, has pledged to work with Moreno to find ways to “protect the most vulnerable in society.”

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