Banco Central de Ecuador
Ecuador's liquid foreign currency (forex) reserves increased to $1.996 bln (1.694 bln euro) on November 18, 2005 from $1.979 bln (1.68 bln euro) on November 11, 2005, the central bank of Ecuador BCE said on November 21, 2005.
The central bank did not provide reasons for the increase.
Ecuador's liquid forex reserves stood at $2.013 bln (1.709 bln euro) on November 4, 2005, down from $2.06 bln (1.749 bln euro) on October 28, 2005, according to BCE data.
Ecuador's liquid forex reserves stood at $1.437 bln (1.22 bln euro) at the end of December 2004, up from $1.16 bln (985 mln euro) at the end of 2003, the central bank data showed. Ecuador closed 2002 with liquid forex reserves of $1.008 bln (856 mln euro). The reserves totalled $1.074 bln (912 mln euro) at the end of 2001 and $1.18 bln (1.002 bln euro) at the end of 2000.
Ecuador uses its forex reserves mainly to service its foreign debt, while BCE uses the reserves to pay for public sector imports. The U.S. dollar was introduced as the official currency in Ecuador in 2000, replacing the national currency the sucre.