Ecuador Central Bank Chief Resigns, Exiting Post Early

(Bloomberg) — Ecuador’s central bank governor Guillermo Avellán announced his resignation Tuesday, saying he would leave the job to pursue other professional opportunities with more than a year left in his term.

“After four and a half years at the central bank, it is time to take on new professional challenges with the same determination and responsibility,” Avellán, a 39-year-old economist who is close to former President Guillermo Lasso, said in a social media post.

A separate statement a few hours later said the central bank had accepted his resignation on November 27.

Avellán still had 1.5 years remaining in his six-year term, which was initiated when Ecuador regained the bank’s independence under Lasso in 2021 with support from the International Monetary Fund.

The Guayaquil economist “distinguished for his leadership in initiatives aimed at strengthening the institutional framework” of the payments authority, according to the statement. It announced its new monthly economic activity indicator on November 20.

He will be replaced by career central banker Juan Ponce, who has been with the agency on an interim basis since 1988, and the new Fiscal and Monetary Regulatory Board will select a permanent successor. Members of the regulatory body were sworn in last September after it was established under a new law that merged two previous boards into a single entity.

In the midst of a severe financial crisis, Ecuador adopted the US dollar in 2000, limiting the central bank’s role to minting coins under 50 cents, facilitating international and domestic payments, and publishing some macroeconomic data.

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