China Loans $1 Billion to Ecuador as Correa Seeks Bond Sale

Ecuador received a loan commitment from China last month for at least $1 billion, helping finance a budget deficit that’s projected to reach $4.23 billion this year, central bank President Pedro Delgado said.

The South American country also plans to tap international debt markets this year, Delgado said yesterday in an interview at his offices in Quito, in what would be the first global sale since it defaulted on $3.2 billion of bonds three years ago. The government is seeking yields of no more than 7 percent, he said. The yield on Ecuador’s 9.375 percent bonds maturing in 2015 has fallen 104 basis points, or 1.04 percentage points, to 9.31 percent in the past year as of 4 p.m. New York time, according to JPMorgan Chase & Co.