Ecuador President Lasso issues decree to boost investment

He is currently ruling by decree after dissolving the national assembly legislature

Ecuador’s President Guillermo Lasso signed a decree today to attract private investment and create new jobs as the country faces deepening political uncertainty.

The decree would create regions with special customs, tax and foreign trade regimes, as well as tax exemptions, the government said.

“We are going to positively transform local and international trade,” Ecuadorean Economy Minister Pablo Arosemena told reporters at the decree-signing event.

Lasso is ruling by decree after dissolving the national assembly legislature which had sought to impeach him, citing Ecuador’s political crisis and domestic turmoil. He enacted the country’s so-called ‘two-way death’ which allowed him to call for early elections for both his post and the assembly.

Today’s decree, like the tax cuts he announced last week for middle-income earners and small businesses, is subject to approval by the constitutional court.

It is unclear whether Lasso will run in the elections, which are likely to be held Aug. 20. One international media outlet quoted him saying he would not, but the minister of government said today that Lasso was weighing the decision.

—Reuters

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