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Ecuador 1Q Current Acct Deficit $817M Vs $1.29B Surplus Yr-Ago

Friday, 24 July 2009 08:01

Source: Wall Street Journal
By: Mercedes Alvaro

QUITO (Dow Jones)--Ecuador posted a first-quarter current account deficit of $817 million compared with a $1.29 billion surplus in the year-earlier period, the central bank said Thursday.

The country's financial and capital account, which is a measure of both direct investment and capital flows, registered a deficit of $571 million in the first quarter compared with a deficit of $628 million in the same period of 2008, the monetary authority said.

The country reported a $1.53 billion current account deficit in the last quarter of 2008 and a deficit of $624 million in its financial and capital account.

Current account figures in the first quarter of 2009 reflected falling remittances, lower oil prices, and higher imports.

According to official data, remittances by Ecuadorians living abroad totaled $555 million in the first quarter, a 14% decrease from the last quarter of 2008 and a 27% decrease from the first quarter of last year.

Meanwhile, Ecuador's first-quarter crude oil export revenues decreased 67% from the year-earlier period, to $1.31 billion. The average price of Ecuador's crude in the January-March period decreased 63%.

During the first quarter of 2009, Ecuador posted a trade deficit of $820 million compared with a surplus of $1.09 billion in the same period of 2008.

In January of this year, Ecuador implemented import restrictions to curb its growing trade deficit, aiming for a $1.46 billion cut in imports this year to stave off the effects of the global financial crisis.

The Ecuadorian government expects a current account deficit of $1.5 billion in 2009.