TY  - SER
AU  - Lapper, Richard
AU  - Newsome, Justine
TI  - SELL-OFFS PLAN TO BOOST IMF ECUADOR DEAL
KW  - FMI REFORMA ECONOMICA PRIVATIZACION MINISTERIO DE FINANZAS DEUDA EXTERNA REPROGRAMACION DE LA DEUDA SISTEMAS BANCARIOS
KW  - REPROGRAMACION DE LA DEUDA
KW  - FMI
KW  - 11
KW  - 3ext133
KW  - EC
N2  - Ecuador's President Jamil Mahuad is preparing to launch a 3bn privatisation programme and drive through banking reform in an attempt to underpin an expected 400m standby agreement with the International Monetary Fund. The agreement - expected by early next month - should help stabilise the economy following this year's severe financial crisis and allow Ecuador to reduce its heavy burden of external debt. The IMF deal is a crucial step for a renegotiation of Ecuador's debt to government creditors through the Paris Club. Talks are scheduled to begin on July 5 and Ecuador, one of the continent's most highly indebted countries, will present debt forgiveness proposals. Ana Lucia Armijos, finance minister, said: "There is no doubt we will have a positive response." Ecuador's debt to Paris Club creditors amounts to 1bn, nearly 8 per cent of the total. Belgium and Switzerland forgave 78m of debt in the early 1990s
ER  -