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Ecuador lowers

budget deficit

QUITO: Ecuador's Central Bank Manager Augusto de la Torre said the government has lowered the budget deficit to about $175 million, or 1.0 percent of the country's Gross Domestic Product.

De La Torre did not specify the measures taken to trim down the deficit, but officials had previously announced series of budget cuts.

Finance Minister Ivan Andrade revealed early this year that Ecuador was facing a 2.3 percent budget deficit due to salaries increases granted to public employees and state investments in the oil and electricity industries.-Reuter