Ecuador

President Rafael Correa said Ecuador may not honor a loan of more than USD 200 million owed to Brazil’s state development bank that’s linked to Odebrecht SA, a Brazilian construction company he says did a poor job building a plant. The loan by the bank known as BNDES was for the year-old, USD 338 million San Francisco hydroelectric power plant built by Odebrecht. The plant had to be shut down in August due to damages to tunnels and turbines, leading Correa to expel the company from Ecuador Sept. 23. “In reality, it’s money that went to the company but appears as if it were a loan by Brazil to Ecuador,” Correa said. (Bloomberg)