Ecuador has reached a staff-level agreement with the International Monetary Fund on the sixth review of its Extended Fund Facility programme, moving the country closer to fresh financing worth more than $1.09 billion.

Reuters reported on 9 November that the agreement, announced by the IMF on Monday, covers the policies and reforms needed to complete the sixth review under the facility. If the IMF Executive Board approves the review, Ecuador would gain immediate access to about 280.5 million Special Drawing Rights, roughly $380 million.

A second facility for climate and disasters

The agreement also covers a new 18-month Resilience and Sustainability Facility worth 523.275 million Special Drawing Rights, about $710 million, aimed at reforms tied to energy, climate and disaster resilience. The first tranche under that facility would become available after its first review, provided the agreed reform measures are implemented.

Discussions were held in Washington and remotely from 22 September to 26 October, led by IMF mission chief Anastasia Guscina. The IMF said performance under the 48-month Extended Fund Facility programme remained strong, and that Ecuador had met all of the quantitative criteria for the sixth review except for a slight miss on government arrears.

Growth picture

According to the IMF, Ecuador's real gross domestic product grew by 2.1 percent in the first half of 2026 and is projected to grow by 2.7 percent for the year as a whole. The figures point to a modest recovery in an economy that has been under strain from security pressures and fiscal constraints under President Daniel Noboa.

A staff-level agreement is not the same as final approval. The money will only become available once the IMF Executive Board has considered and approved the review, which is the next step in the process. The agreement does, however, signal that IMF staff are satisfied with the direction of Ecuador's economic policies, including its efforts to strengthen public finances and build resilience against energy shocks, climate risks and natural disasters.

Ecuador's government has presented the deal as a vote of confidence in its reform programme. The Resilience and Sustainability Facility, in particular, is designed to support long-term investment in adapting to climate change and preparing for disasters, both of which have hit Ecuador hard in recent years.