* Ecuador’s central bank (BCE) has announced that the country’s GDP contracted by 3.4% in the first quarter of 2023, compared with the preceding quarter. The BCE attributed this contraction to reductions in government spending (-7.3%), exports (-5.1%), gross fixed capital formation (-4.6%), and household consumption (-2.0%). The bank also highlighted disruption to Ecuador’s oil sector in Q1 2023, noting that the government twice declared a force majeure that halted oil pumping due to landslides and social conflicts. In year-on-year terms, however, Ecuador’s GDP was up by 0.7% in the first quarter of 2023 compared with the same period in 2022.
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