In the virtual hearing this Thursday, the legal undersecretary of the presidency, Jorge Benavides, called for a positive opinion on this provision, which President Guillermo Lasso had submitted to the Central Committee for consideration after the National Assembly (Parliament) was dissolved by crucifixion.
The ruler was invited to attend the session but sent other officials, such as Minister of Economy and Finance Pablo Arosemena, who highlighted the need to implement the decree to improve foreign investment in the country.
In the same spirit, the Minister of Production, Foreign Trade, Investments and Fisheries, Julio José Prado, stressed that it is essential for Ecuador to create free zones with tax advantages.
Officially dubbed the “Organic Reform Law,” the law designed to attract and encourage investment for productive development has been questioned by jurists, producers, and pundits.
Among them was Andean MP Virgilio Hernández, who criticized the executive for confusing the prerogatives it now has to rule by decree-law during the dissolution of the assembly.
The current administration must justify the economic urgency of any measure it wants to implement, and that is not the case, said Hernández, who was one of the constituent lawmakers in 2008.
For their part, representatives of the shrimp and cocoa sectors attended the hearing and warned that the decree violated legal certainty and could lead the state to international arbitration.
Earlier, economist and former 2021 presidential candidate Andrés Arauz warned that free zone regulations could turn Ecuador into a tax haven, benefiting banks and facilitating drug laundering.
Last Tuesday, the CC discussed a tax reform proposal, another decree Lasso had communicated to the institution since the cross-death application on May 17.
The judicial body has no time limit to give its opinion on these two measures and they cannot come into force without its consent.
Meanwhile, the government is preparing to submit further regulations to the CC dealing with investments and the stock market, Minister Arosemena announced.
lam/avr