Bloomberg
November 15, 2008

Ecuadorean president Rafael Correa said he’ll suspend payments on foreign debt he deems illegitimate” should an upcoming report find there is legal basis to do so.

(Excerpt)

Ecuador will use a 30-day grace period on a $30.6 million bond payment due today to analyze its legal options, Finance Minister Maria Elsa Viteri said yesterday.

“If there’s a sufficient basis to say we can’t pay this illegitimate debt, that’s what we’ll do,” Correa said today in his weekly address, according to a statement posted on the government’s Web site. “That the bonds fall and the country risk rises doesn’t hold the least interest for us. Here we’ll act for the country and the common good.”