The member of the IESS César Rodríguez gave figures from the IESS on health debt and pensions. In health, the greatest weight is care for retirees and catastrophic events. The State maintains a debt of at least $7.381 billion with the Social Security Institute (IESS). These items, according to a report published by César Rodríguez, a member of the IESS […]

Through a press statement, National Institute of Statistics and Censuses (INEC) said that from 2020 until May 2021, it implemented several methodological changes associated with the size and distribution of the samples it collects, the level of representativeness of the estimators, and the construction of weighting factors. “These modifications affected the historical comparability of the […]

Update to: Lasso Announces 50% Internet Discount for Seniors Published: Volume 5, Issue 40 The Elderly Plan for the discount on internet and telephony, explained The Ministry of Telecommunications created the Senior Adult Plan to give a 50% discount on the payment for internet consumption and fixed and mobile telephony for people over 65 years […]

I’m in Florida writing this and it’s hot. And muggy. I had to come her for a family “emergency” that has all worked out okay. I’m quite happy for that and I am glad that I came. It was a rushed trip and I had to make a connection to get here which I never […]

Tracking the spread and outcome of the coronavirus in Ecuador: Updated for Tuesday, July 20, 2021 This week it is important to talk more about what is happening in the country overall, than any particular numbers that we track. First and foremost, the delta variant of the coronavirus—which is considered to be as much as […]

The national Assembly unanimously approved the ratification of the Inter-American Convention Against All Forms of Discrimination and Intolerance. On July 13th, the Ecuadorian legislature approved with 126 votes the report of the International Relations and Human Mobility Commission to ratify this international instrument. Assemblyman Juan Fernando Flores, President of the Commission, said that “the convention is […]

In the best of cases, production could be increased to 610,000 barrels per day in 2025, which is still far from the million barrels announced by the authorities

On May 24, 2021, the government of Lenín Moreno officially ended and give way to that of Guillermo Lasso. Although his 4 years as President have ended, the results of Moreno’s policies on the country’s economic indicators have consequences that will last for months — perhaps years. It was not a surprise. In April 2020, at the […]

We’ve been having work done on our little guest house. And by little, I mean about 300 square feet. So, nothing to brag about. But I can say that it is finally a house. When we bought our property, the little house was even littler, about 200 square feet. And the walls were not really […]

The Ministry of Public Health reported 1,077 patients hospitalized for COVID-19 nationwide : 650 remain stable and 427 with a reserved prognosis. The Ministry has not updated the hospitalization figures in the last nine days. In a statement, he explained that they are restructuring the information system.    Tracking the spread and outcome of the coronavirus in Ecuador: Updated […]

The Peruvian Prosecutor’s Office has opened preliminary proceedings against the far-right presidential candidate Keiko Fujimori for a “crime against the right to vote in the form of disruption or impediment to the electoral process.” Fujimori has other open cases for corruption and irregular financing of her campaign. The investigation is based on the presentation of 760 […]

The new oil policy, proposed by the government of Guillermo Lasso, through decree 95, proposes a renegotiation and free and voluntary migration of the current Service contracts to Participation contracts and opens the debate on the legal channels and the possible interest that it could generate in some oil companies to accept the changes. According to the proposal, the new Participation contract (which […]

Leonidas Iza Salazar, the new president of the Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities of Ecuador (Conaie) stresses that his first mission is to promote the resolutions of the groups of the movement, especially, to seek dialogue with the President of the Republic, Guillermo Lasso, and that the executive decrees that allowed the release of fuel prices be repealed. He […]

Bank profits showed an improvement in the first half of 2021 compared to the results obtained in the first six months of the previous year. Thru last June, the country’s large banks made about $107 million in profits; medium banks, about $68 million and small ones lost $2.42 million. The net income of the banking system […]

All travelers whose point of origin, stopover or transit is India or Brazil, must now present a negative result of a PCR test carried out 72 hours before embarking to Ecuador. And, even with a negative test result, they must go into isolation for ten (10) days and report if they have symptoms compatible with Covid-19. This is a […]

The bilateral relationship between Ecuador and the United States will be further strengthened under the current government of Guillermo Lasso, says Michael Fitzpatrick, US ambassador to the country. He says that the dialogues will be deepened to close a commercial agreement and that agreements to improve drug trafficking control are also a priority. Fitzpatrick adds that they […]

  With caution, we are happy to report that there were some very positive changes over the last week. However, there are two indicators that still raise concern and may mean a worsening of the situation in the coming week. First, the good news. New Covid-19 deaths fell by 40% this week, going from 230 […]

Sometimes I just have nothing to say. When it happens, it reminds me of Andy Rooney. He used to do his opinion piece at the end of every 60 Minutes episode. And one episode in particular stands out to me, the piece he did on a paper clip. I mean, he REALLY had nothing to […]