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Ecuador says it wants ties to World Bank at a minimum
AFP
QUITO
Petroleumworld.com 04 30 07Ecuador underscored Friday its intention to reduce to a minimum its ties to the World Bank after kicking out its envoy whom Quito accused of extortion.
Economy Minister Ricardo Patino told Teleamazonas television that "we have been reducing our credit relationship with the bank and we want to reduce it to a minimum."
President Rafael Correa gave Brazilian Eduardo Somensatto 72 hours to leave the country and declared him persona non grata for allegedly not disbursing a 100 million dollar loan that had been approved to punish Ecuador for oil sector reform when Correa was serving as economy minister in 2005.
"With the IMF, no relationship, and the World Bank the bare minimum," Patino added.
Correa said the bank froze the credit to punish him for reforming the oil industry, and accused the multilateral lender of "extortion."
Correa's reform was designed to create an oil fund to buy back Ecuador's sovereign foreign debt.
AFP 27 2145 GMT 04 07
Copyright© 2007 AFP. All Rights Reserved.
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