Ecuador foreign debt rises 16% in October

Ecuador’s foreign debt in October totaled $18.33 billion, up 16% from a year before, the central bank said. The amount is equivalent to about 20% of Ecuador’s $90 billion gross domestic product forecast for 2013.

According to current law, the country’s debt-to-GDP limit is 40%. In its latest monthly report, the bank said the country’s public debt totaled $12.61 billion in October, an increase of 18% from a year earlier. The October public-debt figure is equal to about 14% of the 2013 GDP forecast.

Private-sector debt, meanwhile, stood at $5.72 billion in October, up 12% from October 2012.