Ecuador’s Noboa Willing to Negotiate VAT Hike, Seeks Subsidy Cut

Ecuador President Daniel Noboa is willing to modify his proposal of raising the value-added tax to get it approved in congress, according to remarks in a video interview with La Posta news website.

• Noboa said he would be willing to accept a temporary VAT increase of two percentage points and a permanent increase of one percentage-point to 13%
• Such an increase would be a good sign for the multilateral institutions Ecuador relies on for external financing, Noboa said
• Noboa said Ecuador’s near $4 billion in annual subsidies need to be “targeted” for the state to “stop bleeding cash”
  • Subsidies should ...