The Economic Development Commission approved Tuesday, July 31st, the non-binding report of the Executive’s partial veto on the bill to promote productive development. The Committee recommended that the National Assembly accept most of the modifications made by the Executive and insist on seven articles, among which the most important are exemptions to the Tax on the Remittance of Currencies (ISD) and payment facilities for tax remissions. The report will now be discussed during the plenary session of the National Assembly, which will vote on it next Tuesday, July 7th.

The non-binding report of the committee calls for acceptance of 58 of the 67 amendments introduced by the President of the Republic. The committee, however, proposes that the Assembly does not accept the requests for modifications made by the Executive regarding the ISD exemptions exclusively for imports of inputs that cannot be purchased in the country, and the payment facilities in the referrals for companies that present financial problems in the last two years. They did not take a position on the changes to the macro-fiscal rules and public accounts.

Tuesday evening’s session began with an analysis of a new objection introduced by the Executive, Friday July 27st, which seeks to establish new adjudication mechanisms to ensure compliance with future investor contracts. The Executive considered that in order to ensure their legal security, it should allow international adjudication mechanisms, mainly in internationally recognized courts such as The Hague and Paris. This objection generated rejection among the legislators, especially among the legislators who responded to former President Rafael Correa. However, it was adopted together with the rest of the report by nine votes to two.