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 The death toll from Ecuador's weekend earthquake neared 600 and
rescue missions ebbed as the traumatized Andean nation braced itself
for long and costly rebuilding.
"It's hard to imagine the magnitude of the tragedy. Every time we
visit a place, there are more problems," Correa said, fresh from
touring the disaster zone.
The leftist leader estimated the disaster had inflicted $2 billion
to $3 billion of damage and could knock 2 to 3 percentage points off
growth, meaning the economy will almost certainly shrink this year.
Lower oil revenue had already left the poor nation of 16 million
people facing near-zero growth and lower investment.
In addition to $600 million in credit from multilateral lenders,
Correa, an economist, announced a raft of measures to help repair
homes, roads, and bridges along the devastated Pacific Coast.
"We're looking at the possibility of issuing bonds on the
international market," he said on Wednesday afternoon, without
providing details.
 Ecuador had been saying before the quake that current high yields
would make it too expensive to issue debt. Yields on its bonds are
close to 11 percentage points higher than comparable U.S. Treasury
debt, according to JPMorgan data, and creditors are likely to be
wary after the quake.
Correa's government in 2008 defaulted on debt with a similar yield,
calling the value unfair. His government has since returned to Wall
Street and Ecuador currently has some $3.5 billion worth of bonds in
circulation.
In a nationally televised address later on Wednesday, Correa also
announced the OPEC nation was poised to shed assets.
"The country has many assets thanks to investment over all these
years and we will seek to sell some of them to overcome these
difficult moments," he said.
He also unveiled several short-term tax changes, including a 2-point
increase in the Valued Added Tax for a year, as well as a "one-off 3
percent additional contribution on profits," although the fine print
was not immediately clear.
The VAT tax is currently 12 percent.
Additionally, a one-off tax of 0.9 percent will be imposed on people
with wealth of over $1 million. Ecuadoreans will also be asked to
contribute one day of salary, calculated on a sliding scale based on
income.
'FOOD, PLEASE'
Briefly pausing talk of reconstruction and hindering rescuers,
another quake, of 6.2 magnitude, shook the coast before dawn on
Wednesday, terrifying survivors.
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"You can't imagine what a fright it was. 'Not again!' I thought,"
said Maria Quinones in Pedernales town, which bore the brunt of
Saturday's disaster.
That quake, the worst in decades, killed 570 people, injured 7,000
others, damaged close to 2,000 buildings, and forced over 24,000
survivors to seek refuge in shelters, according to government
tallies.
Four days on, some isolated communities struggled without water,
power or transport, as torn-up roads stymied deliveries. Along the
coast, stadiums served as morgues and aid distribution centers.
"I'm waiting for medicines, diapers for my grandson, we're lacking
everything," said Ruth Quiroz, 49, as she waited in an hour-long
line in front of a makeshift pharmacy set up at the Pedernales
stadium.
On a highway outside the town, some children sat holding placards
saying: "Food, please."
When a truck arrived to deliver water to the small town of San
Jacinto, hungry residents surrounded the vehicle and hit it as they
yelled: "We want food!"
Scores of foreign aid workers and experts have arrived in the
aftermath of Saturday's disaster and about 14,000 security personnel
have kept order, with only sporadic looting reported. But rescuers
were losing hope of finding anyone alive even as relatives of the
missing begged them to keep looking.
Speaking from the highland capital, Quito, Correa said the death
toll would likely rise further, although at a slower rate than in
previous days. "May these tears fertilize the soil of the future,"
he said.
(Additional reporting by Alexandra Valencia and Diego Ore in Quito,
Brian Ellsworth in Caracas; Writing by Andrew Cawthorne and
Alexandra Ulmer; Editing by Tom Brown, Peter Cooney and Michael
Perry)
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