Drop in poverty and inequality in Ecuador
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By Staff Writers, teleSUR
teleSUR
Tuesday, May 26, 2015
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| The Ecuadorian president on Sunday presented his annual report to the nation on the seat of the legislative report. | Photo: AFP
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Addressing Ecuador’s National Assembly for his annual state of the union address, President Rafael Correa celebrated the advances which have been made under the Citizen's Revolution, the name of the process of deep reforms undertaken by his government.
President Correa highlighted the 12.5 percent reduction in poverty which has occurred since 2007, signaling that Ecuador is on its way to becoming a more equal society.
"Our growth, comrades, has been in favor of the poor. This means that the well-being of the poorest of our society has grown at greater speed than the richest. What this means is that we are constructing a more equal and cohesive society. We should highlight that the reduction in inequality and poverty is a product of the Citizen's Revolution,” said President Correa in the National Assembly.
Correa said that this transition has been supported by high investment in education. Over US$1 billion has been invested in the creation of 5 top-tier universities with distinct focuses, moving towards what President Correa has called an economy based on knowledge and human talent.
Ernesto Nieto, a citizen who was present for Correa's address said,"The construction of new universities, technical and technological training, the bettering of the quality of our institutions of higher education to create this human talent that is able to transform our economy and also the eradication of poverty, these are the fundamental areas that are part of the transformation of our country."
In his address, Correa mentioned that the low international price of oil and strengthening of the U.S. dollar have not affected investment in sectors such as health and education due to responsible spending and measures which have been taken to protect the economy.
"We have to continue diversifying our economy with the important steps that are being taken, but also taking into account that we need to work on the ideological level to construct a socialist economy," said Carlos Basantes, a member of a youth movement following the state of the union address.
President Correa said that in all sectors the country has exceeded expectations, and predicted that Ecuador will end the year on strong, economic footing with continued high investment in priority areas.
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