Ecuador

Ecuador's default on USD 3.9 billion of international bonds means it's only a matter of time before the country drops the US dollar as its currency, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. says. Ecuador's use of the dollar gives President Rafael Correa no outlet for providing credit to the economy as access to foreign financing dries up and revenue from sales of oil, the nation's biggest export, tumbles. Correa, a critic of so-called dollarization, also may use the default as an excuse to abandon the policy, said Alberto Ramos, a Latin America economist with Goldman Sachs in New York. (Bloomberg)