Subscribe Login
Jamaica Observer
ePaper
The Edge 105 FM Radio Fyah 105 FM
Jamaica Observer
ePaper
The Edge 105 FM Radio Fyah 105 FM
    • Home
    • News
      • Latest News
      • Cartoon
      • International News
      • Central
      • North & East
      • Western
      • Environment
      • Health
      • #
    • Business
      • Business Bites
      • Social Love
    • Sports
      • Football
      • Basketball
      • Cricket
      • Horse Racing
      • World Champs
      • Commonwealth Games
      • FIFA World Cup
      • Olympics
      • #
    • Videos
    • Entertainment
      • Music
      • Movies
      • Art & Culture
      • Bookends
      • #
    • Lifestyle
      • Page2
      • Food
      • Tuesday Style
      • Food Awards
      • JOL Takes Style Out
      • Design Week JA
      • Black Friday
      • #
    • All Woman
      • Home
      • Relationships
      • Features
      • Fashion
      • Fitness
      • Rights
      • Parenting
      • Advice
      • #
    • Obits
    • Classifieds
      • Employment
      • Property
      • Motor Vehicles
      • Place an Ad
      • Obituaries
    • More
      • Games
      • Elections
      • Jobs & Careers
      • Study Centre
      • Jnr Study Centre
      • Letters
      • Columns
      • Advertorial
      • Editorial
      • Supplements
      • Webinars
    • Home
    • News
      • Latest News
      • Cartoon
      • International News
      • Central
      • North & East
      • Western
      • Environment
      • Health
      • #
    • Business
      • Business Bites
      • Social Love
    • Sports
      • Football
      • Basketball
      • Cricket
      • Horse Racing
      • World Champs
      • Commonwealth Games
      • FIFA World Cup
      • Olympics
      • #
    • Videos
    • Entertainment
      • Music
      • Movies
      • Art & Culture
      • Bookends
      • #
    • Lifestyle
      • Page2
      • Food
      • Tuesday Style
      • Food Awards
      • JOL Takes Style Out
      • Design Week JA
      • Black Friday
      • #
    • All Woman
      • Home
      • Relationships
      • Features
      • Fashion
      • Fitness
      • Rights
      • Parenting
      • Advice
      • #
    • Obits
    • Classifieds
      • Employment
      • Property
      • Motor Vehicles
      • Place an Ad
      • Obituaries
    • More
      • Games
      • Elections
      • Jobs & Careers
      • Study Centre
      • Jnr Study Centre
      • Letters
      • Columns
      • Advertorial
      • Editorial
      • Supplements
      • Webinars
  • Home
  • News
    • International News
  • Latest
  • Business
    • Business Bites
  • Cartoon
  • Games
  • Food Awards
  • Health
  • Entertainment
    • Bookends
  • Regional
  • Sports
    • Sports
    • World Cup
    • World Champs
    • Olympics
  • Videos
  • Career & Education
  • Classifieds
  • All Woman
  • Environment
  • Webinars
  • More
    • Football
    • Elections
    • Letters
    • Advertorial
    • Columns
    • Editorial
    • Supplements
  • Epaper
  • Design Week
Ecuador hikes taxes to pay for post-quake reconstruction
A man jokes around after taking some pictures of a section of highway that collapsed due to a 7.8-magnitude earthquake, in Chacras, Ecuador onTuesday. (Photo: AP)
News
April 20, 2016

Ecuador hikes taxes to pay for post-quake reconstruction

QUITO, Ecuador (AP) — President Rafael Correa said Ecuador’s worst earthquake in decades caused billions of dollars of damage and he is raising sales taxes and putting a one-time levy on millionaires to help pay for reconstruction.

The damage from 7.8-magnitude quake adds to already heavy economic hardships being felt in this OPEC nation triggered by the collapse in world oil prices. Even before the quake, Ecuador was bracing for a bout of austerity, with the International Monetary Fund forecasting the economy would shrink 4.5 percent this year.

In a televised address Wednesday night, Correa warned the nation of a long and costly post-quake recovery and said the economic pain shouldn’t fall only on hard-hit communities along the coast.

“I know we’re at the most-difficult stage right now but it’s just the beginning,” he said.

Using authority granted by the state of emergency he declared after Saturday night’s quake, Correa said sales taxes would increase to 14 percent from 12 percent for the coming year.

People with more than $1 million in assets will be charged a one-time tax of 0.9 percent on their wealth, while workers earning over $1,000 a month will be forced to contribute a day’s wages and those earning $5,000 a month the equivalent of five days’ pay.

Taxes on companies will also go up, and Correa said he will look to sell certain state assets that he didn’t specify. He is also drawing on $600 million in emergency credits from the World Bank and other multilateral lenders.

Unlike the deadly earthquake that ravaged Chile in 2010, when commodity prices were at a high and most of South America was booming, Ecuador must rebuild with prices of oil, the lifeblood of its economy, near a decade low. Manufacturing is also suffering because the economy is dollarized, depriving companies in Ecuador of the same jolt the rest of South America has experienced from devalued currencies.

The tax hikes come as the scale of devastation continues to sink in. A helicopter flyover of the damage zone Wednesday showed entire city blocks in ruins as if they had been bombed.

Late Wednesday, the government raised the death toll to 570. Officials listed 163 people as missing while the number of those made homeless climbed over 23,500. The final death toll could surpass casualties from earthquakes in Chile and Peru in the past decade.

Even as authorities turn to restoring electricity and clearing debris, the earth continued to move. A magnitude-6.1 aftershock before dawn Wednesday set babies crying and sent nervous residents pouring into the streets. Local seismologists had recorded more than 550 aftershocks, some felt 105 miles (170 kilometers) away in the capital of Quito.

While humanitarian aid has been pouring in from around the world, distribution is slow. In Manta on Wednesday, people waited for hours under the tropical sun for water and food supplies. Soldiers kept control with fenced barricades.

“They looted the store. I’m taking out what little remains,” Jose Encalada said as he cleaned up his paint store in Pedernales, one of the hardest-hit towns.

The country continued to celebrate rescues. A video of a fluffy white dog being pulled from the rubble circulated widely on social media Thursday, and Manta mayor Jorge Zambrano announced that three people had been pulled from beneath a collapsed building the night before.

“I still have hope we can find more people who are still alive beneath the rubble,” he said. “If we have even a hope of life, we must work with extreme care.”

But the clock is running down for finding survivors. Rescue workers say a person without serious injuries can survive up to a week buried in debris in the Ecuadorian heat.

{"website":"website"}{"jamaica-observer":"Jamaica Observer"}
0 Comments · Make a comment

ALSO ON JAMAICA OBSERVER

Magnitude 7.2 quake off Vanuatu triggers tsunami warning
International News, Latest News
Magnitude 7.2 quake off Vanuatu triggers tsunami warning
October 23, 2026
SYDNEY, Australia (AFP)—A 7.2 magnitude earthquake off Vanuatu triggered a tsunami warning on Saturday, the Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre said. "Base...
{"jamaica-observer":"Jamaica Observer"}
Cuba mocks US ‘desperation’ calling on Cubans to work with CIA
International News, Latest News
Cuba mocks US ‘desperation’ calling on Cubans to work with CIA
October 23, 2026
HAVANA, Cuba (AFP)—Havana on Friday mocked the "desperation" of the United States after it called for Cubans to collaborate with the CIA, as Washingto...
{"jamaica-observer":"Jamaica Observer"}
Flash flood warning in effect for eastern parishes
Latest News, News
Flash flood warning in effect for eastern parishes
October 23, 2026
KINGSTON, Jamaica—The Meteorological Service of Jamaica has upgraded a flash flood watch to a flash flood warning for low-lying and flood-prone areas ...
{"jamaica-observer":"Jamaica Observer"}
Trump lifts some Canada tariffs ahead of midterms
International News, Latest News
Trump lifts some Canada tariffs ahead of midterms
October 23, 2026
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP)—United States (US) President Donald Trump's administration lifted some tariffs on Canadian imports Friday, two weeks a...
{"jamaica-observer":"Jamaica Observer"}
Ebola vaccine trial begins in DR Congo
International News, Latest News
Ebola vaccine trial begins in DR Congo
October 23, 2026
GENEVA, Switzerland (AFP)—The first clinical trial of an Ebola vaccine in the outbreak gripping the Democratic Republic of Congo began Friday, the hea...
{"jamaica-observer":"Jamaica Observer"}
Rubio urges Cubans to work with CIA
International News, Latest News
Rubio urges Cubans to work with CIA
October 23, 2026
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP)—United States (US) Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Friday called for Cubans to make "discreet" contact with the Amer...
{"jamaica-observer":"Jamaica Observer"}
Gov’t dismisses Opposition’s criticism of non-essential travel moratorium as ‘misguided and shallow’
Latest News, News
Gov’t dismisses Opposition’s criticism of non-essential travel moratorium as ‘misguided and shallow’
October 23, 2026
KINGSTON, Jamaica —State Minister in the Office of the Prime Minister, Abka Fitz-Henley, has rejected criticism by Opposition Spokesman on Finance Jul...
{"jamaica-observer":"Jamaica Observer"}
WIFAX puts spotlight on Kingston waterfront’s creative potential
Latest News, News
WIFAX puts spotlight on Kingston waterfront’s creative potential
October 23, 2026
KINGSTON, Jamaica —Focus on the local orange economy is at a crescendo as private and state agencies, artists and professionals converge on Kingston's...
{"jamaica-observer":"Jamaica Observer"}
❮ ❯

Polls

HOUSE RULES

  1. We welcome reader comments on the top stories of the day. Some comments may be republished on the website or in the newspaper; email addresses will not be published.
  2. Please understand that comments are moderated and it is not always possible to publish all that have been submitted. We will, however, try to publish comments that are representative of all received.
  3. We ask that comments are civil and free of libellous or hateful material. Also please stick to the topic under discussion.
  4. Please do not write in block capitals since this makes your comment hard to read.
  5. Please don't use the comments to advertise. However, our advertising department can be more than accommodating if emailed: advertising@jamaicaobserver.com.
  6. If readers wish to report offensive comments, suggest a correction or share a story then please email: community@jamaicaobserver.com.
  7. Lastly, read our Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy

Recent Posts

Archives

Facebook
Twitter
Instagram
Tweets

Polls

Recent Posts

Archives

Logo Jamaica Observer
Breaking news from the premier Jamaican newspaper, the Jamaica Observer. Follow Jamaican news online for free and stay informed on what's happening in the Caribbean
Featured Tags
  • Editorial
  • Columns
  • Health
  • Auto
  • Business
  • Letters
  • Page2
  • Football
Categories
  • Business
  • Politics
  • Entertainment
  • Page2
  • Business
  • Politics
  • Entertainment
  • Page2
Ads
img
Jamaica Observer, © All Rights Reserved
  • Home
  • Contact Us
  • RSS Feeds
  • Feedback
  • Privacy Policy
  • Editorial Code of Conduct