|
Archived Articles
Simeon Mitropolitski is a Canadian analyst, of Bulgarian origin, and a former syndicated columnist with the Bulgarian News Agency (BTA). He is the author of several hundred articles dealing with hot political and economic topics, both national and international.
He was part of the first group of Bulgarian intellectuals and students that began the opposition movement that finally put an end to the communist regime in this country in 1989, and in 1996-1997 participated in international observation teams during the elections in several Balkan countries - Romania, Albania and Bulgaria.
In 2002 Simeon and his family moved from Bulgaria to Canada where they live now in Montreal, province of Quebec. Simeon is a Master of Political Science from McGill University and a B.A. of Political Science and History.
Global Real Estate Project
|
 |
Ecuador: Two roads
 Galapagos Landscape One of the major economic problems in Latin America in the past decades has been the inflation, caused by the huge government debts, the financial mismanagement and the political nepotism. Ecuador has tried to escape from this vicious circle by "dollarizing" its currency regime in 2000. Such bold step can bring down the inflation but it also aims to correct the state's financial policy. Having dollars as national currency can be considered as a privilege but it could turn to be a financial punishment without proper structural reforms. It depends on Ecuador itself, on its society and government, to choose which way to follow: the road of Argentina where the currency board recently collapsed or the road of Panama, which boasts to have one of the best investment climates in the world. Ecuador by its ethnic makeup and natural hazards matches the typical image of one Latin American country. On the one hand, it heavily relies on exporting primary products, which makes the country very dependant on the fluctuations in the world markets. On the other hand, the distance from the United States and the other developed countries and the proximity with Colombia makes the country less interesting for the foreign investors and settlers. Add to this the frequent earthquakes and volcanic activity as well as the floods and the landslides and you'll find why there aren't so many foreigners lining up for applying for permanent residency. Four years ago the financial system in the country collapsed and the local prices went up, helped by the financial mismanagement and the default on external loans. In this moment the only remedy for the country seemed to be the total "dollarization". So far it works, but as we have seen from the Argentina example, any form of currency board has to be maintained by prudent financial policy. Under this system the fastest way of economic prosperity lies through the foreign investment regime liberalization and by cutting the red tape as much as possible. So far the country doesn't offer many incentives to balance the negative sides of living there. One of the major incentives is the relatively lower prices and the fact that the dollar is a legal tender throughout the country. Monthly expenditures of $400-500 are enough for a decent life and $1,000-1,500 is sufficient for some extra spending. The real estate is also very cheap. An old apartment in the capital Quito can be found for less than $15,000 and some older houses on the ocean coast are sold for even less. The new ones can be bought for less than $30,000. The only attraction that costs more than you expect is the entrance fee to the Galapagos Islands ($100), but you'll have to be prepared to pay at least $1,000 for the whole package including the flight tickets from the capital Quito. On the other side of the balance is the criminal activity in the country and the fact that from time to time foreign citizens are been kidnapped and held for ransom. In 2001 kidnappers, according to the State Department, murdered one US citizen. According to the same source criminals sometimes use incapacitating drugs on unsuspecting tourists in order to rob them. Another bad feeling comes from the "gringo tax" paid usually by the wealthy foreigners. To complete the story we have to add the traditional for this region red tape. In other words, Ecuador seems not to use in full the privileges given to the country by the current financial regime and if its government continues to follow the same path it will reach the same point as Argentina did recently.
Country profile: --------------------
See also the directory of companies providing real estate services in, and general real estate information of Ecuador.
|
See also:
