TRANSPARENCY SNAPSHOT

Since the inauguration of President Rafael Correa in January 2007, Ecuador has undergone momentous political change. During his first year in office, President Correa continued campaigning to reform existing political institutions through a new constitution. First, he succeeded in getting approval to organize a referendum on electing a Constitutional Assembly from a Congress dominated by the opposition. Then, in November 2007, the newly elected Assembly, where Correa's party has a majority, voted to put Congress into indefinite recess. In addition to drafting a new Constitution, the Assembly became the new legislative power. Finally, in late September, 2008, a new constitution was approved with a two-thirds majority. Although the new charter provides more powers to the executive and creates a "citizens' council" to oversee other branches of power, its effect on previously existing transparency legislation remains to be seen.

In prior governments, confrontation between the executive and legislative branches bred intense political instability. Despite these tensions, Ecuador was able to establish a sound legal framework for transparency based on the Transparency and Access to Public Information Law (LOTAIP, by its Spanish acronym). However, a public perception of poor transparency persists, reflected by low ratings in international indices, such as the International Budget Project and the World Governance Indicators.

Read more ...

EXTRACTIVE INDUSTRIES

Ecuador holds the third-largest proven oil reserves in South America, totaling 4.5 billion barrels in January 2008 according to the Oil and Gas Journal. In 2007 Ecuador re-joined OPEC, where it is the smallest oil producer with a quota of 520,000 barrels per day, yet production stood at 512,000 barrels per day in 2007. Ecuador is heavily dependent on oil revenue, which accounted for a quarter of the government's total fiscal revenue and half of its total export earnings in the period of 2000-2005, according to IMF data.

Read more ...