is communist china trying to replace the IMF?..........from asia times online........
"Ecuador sees the loans it has agreed with China as "good news" because they are long term, and all that is required in return is "oil, and not the horrendous adjustments imposed by the IMF [International Monetary Fund]," left-wing Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa told analysts critical of the size and high interest rates of the loans.
At his first press conference with foreign correspondents in 10 months, Correa said some people "are raising Cain because we have promised to sell 52% of our crude oil to China", as payment for the loans. But "in the past, more than 75% [of Ecuador's oil] went to the United States, with nothing to show for it, and nobody complained," he said.
Correa said the latest Chinese loan for $2 billion, divided into two tranches, is to be repaid over eight years at an average weighted interest rate of 6.9%.
The total amount China has lent to Ecuador has not been officially disclosed, and analysts' calculations based on partial data do not tally. According to economist Maria de la Paz Vela, the sums borrowed come to over $7.2 billion, equivalent to 11.7% of gross domestic product (GDP)"..........READ MORE
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