Venezuela to Buy Ecuadorian Bonds

Ecuadoran TV channel Teleamazonas reported that six Economy Ministry officials traveled to Caracas on 19 July with the aim of finalizing this week the sale of Ecuadoran foreign debt bonds to the Venezuelan Government. Correa stressed that "repurchasing short-term debt so as to make use of medium-and long-term debt" would be good business. The interest on the country's internal debt, he stated, is 8.5 per cent; and it is short term, which creates liquidity problems for the treasury. By restructuring the debt via operations with Venezuela and other countries at reduced interest, therefore, "we reduce the cost of the debt and improve the payment profile," he stated.