Ecuador to Buy Back $740 Mln in Bonds

Ecuador will buy back $740 million worth of bonds due in 2012, the government announced. A $400 million loan from the Latin American Reserve Fund and another $340 million from the December sale of 10-year bonds will finance the operation. Finance Minister Diego Borja expects the move to save $20 million a year in debt payments. The country tapped the international bond market last December for the first time since it defaulted on its foreign obligations in 1999.