Reuters today reported Ecuador's net public debt had dropped to U$10.195Bn. When I read the note a little wonky bell rang in my head, so I went off to check at the Banco Central del Ecuador (BCE) website. And sure enough I confirmed my suspicion that today's debt level is the lowest in Ecuador this decade. So much for all that trash talk about Correa's loony left policies bankrupting the country, cos this gov't is being smarter than any recent predecessor in managing the state's accounts.

So while I was at the BCE site I checked how International reserves were developing, and much like the other week while checking up on Bolivia, I had a double-take moment. Ecuador's International currency reserves have zoomed in the last four months to over U$6Bn. Here's a chart that combines the two sets of figures.

Isn't that a bizarre looking chart? I mean, if Studmuffinland can keep up the rhythm of the last four months, we're looking at the possibility of Ecuador closing that gap to zero by this time next year and suddenly joining 'serious' countries like Brazil as a net creditor nation of South America! Little ol' Ecuador!!! Weirdness abounds..........

So next time you hear some economist or other say that Ecuador is committing economic suicide by not courting foreign direct investment, think about that chart. The cold, hard fact of the matter is that (as mentioned previously) Ecuador only needs to benefit from the oil it produces at current prices and it will become a more prosperous nation in due course. If oil reverts things may change, of course. But if oil remains high it simply doesn't need to play the poor little nation pleading for some developed country to send investment money over at any cost. It may decide it wants FDI, but it doesn't need FDI. And there's an enormous difference between those two ideas.