Correa Spurns IMF-Ecuador Deal That Allowed Debt Restructuring

Correa’s protégé, Arauz, is among presidential front-runners
The IMF says accord could be modified under a new government

Former president Rafael Correa, center left, raises the hand of Lenin Moreno, center, during the presidential inauguration in May 2017.Photographer: Alejandro Granadillo/Bloomberg

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By Ben Bartenstein

October 6, 2020 at 5:23 PM UTC

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Rafael Correa, the leftist leader who governed Ecuador for a decade and defaulted on its debt, and his protégé in next year’s presidential election said they would reject the spending cuts requested by the International Monetary Fund as part of a loan deal.

“These austerity policies kill economies,” Correa said in an interview from exile in Belgium. “We’ll check all of this. We can’t continue with these IMF policies.”