Ecuadorian authorities have announced a need for some $550 Million to help Venezuelan citizens fleeing the economic crisis that has plagued their country for some time.
Ecuadorian Deputy Minister of Human Mobility Santiago Chavez said in a statement on Saturday that his country need this amount to provide assistance to all Venezuelans who have chosen to move to Ecuador in search of new opportunities for life, and saved from the difficult economic situation faced by the Government of Caracas for a while. Quito is looking to raise these funds through grants from multilateral agencies and neighbouring countries.
‘We have quantified Ecuadors medium- and long-term needs at around $550 million,’ He said. ‘This has to do with health, education, housing and employment needs’.
He pointed out that delegations from Latin American countries met in the Ecuadorian capital of Quito on Friday and Thursday to coordinate plans to deal with the Venezuelan immigration crisis that has disrupted social services agencies across the continent.
Venezuela is experiencing a crippling economic crisis after the decline oil production, which provides 96% of the country's income to the lowest level in 30 years, prompting hundreds of thousands of people to resort to neighbouring countries.
The United Nations estimates the number of Venezuelan refugees at about two million and 300 thousand people, including about one million people in neighbouring Colombia.
Venezuela's oil production fell to 1.4 million barrels per day in July, while the country's external, which is under US sanctions, rose to 150 billion dollars while the reserves stood at nine billion. (QNA)
