The Ecuadorian economy grew a stronger-than-expected 1.4 percent in 2018, the country’s Central Bank (ECB) reported on Friday. The ECB had a projected Gross Domestic Product growth of 1.2 percent while the International Monetary Fund (IMF) had predicted growth of 0.8 percent.
Ecuador’s GDP growth was stronger than expected in 2018.
The ECB credited strong household and government consumption, an uptick in construction, and an increase in exports for the positive numbers.
The ECB reported that household consumption increased 2.1 percent while government spending grew 2.9 percent over 2017. Among the exports showing growth were bananas, cocoa, coffee, shrimp and petroleum products.
The ECB is predicting flat GDP growth in 2019 while the IMF projects a .2 percent decline.
