A man with a plan: Ecuador
 

President Lenín Moreno celebrated a year in office on Thursday. It was not as happy an anniversary as he might have hoped. His country’s economy is in trouble: the profligacy of his predecessor, Rafael Correa, pushed the fiscal deficit to 5.9% of GDP last year, and public debt has risen, to 47% of GDP. Today the new finance minister, Richard Martínez (pictured), will present the president with a report detailing the extent of Ecuador’s economic woes. The orthodox but inexperienced economist is Mr Moreno’s third finance minister and is tasked with winning back the confidence of investors. He has pledged to curb spending and stop adding to the debt pile. But existing obligations mean the government requires $4.5bn in external financing this year. With the world’s appetite for emerging-market debt on the wane, Mr Martinez will need to play a blinder to get Ecuador’s economy back on course.

Source: The Economist