Goldman Gets Ecuador Gold as Correa Steps Up Cash Hunt

Ecuador, one of only eight countries to adopt the U.S. dollar as its official currency, swapped gold with Goldman Sachs Group Inc. for liquid assets in a sign the nation is short on cash, according to Loomis Sayles & Co.

“It does raise a red flag,” Bianca Taylor, a sovereign analyst who helps oversee $210 billion at Loomis Sayles, said yesterday in a phone interview from Boston. “Whenever a country needs to sell or monetize its gold reserves, it’s definitely a signal that the sovereign is strapped for cash.”