Ecuador Finance Ministry Issues Directive for Debt Settlement Using Unproductive State Real Estate

The Mechanism

The Ecuadorian government has issued a formal directive allowing debts owed to public and private creditors — including Gobiernos Autónomos Descentralizados (GADs) and private suppliers — to be settled using "unproductive" state real estate rather than cash.

Per El Universo (source), the directive targets "pago de deudas con acreedores públicos y privados, como Gobiernos Autónomos Descentralizados (GAD) o proveedores."

Eligible Assets

The protocol designates two categories of state property as eligible:

• Assets held by the Secretaría General Administrativa y de Gestión Inmobiliaria del Sector Público de la Presidencia
• Assets held by other entities of the central public administration that "no cumplan con el fin institucional" — i.e., properties not serving their designated institutional purpose

Process Requirements

A settlement requires:

• Convenio de dación de pago — a formal in-kind payment agreement signed by both parties
• Submission by the Ministerio de Finanzas (acting as "ente rector de Finanzas Públicas")
• Certificado de gravámenes (lien certificate)
• Technical reports on asset condition
• Cadastral recognition
• Accounting records

Scale Context

Per the article, Inmobiliar — Ecuador's public-sector real estate authority — held "436 bienes inmuebles temporales y 33 de administración permanente hasta diciembre del 2024" — a combined 469 state-owned properties as of year-end 2024 available in the temporary and permanent-administration portfolios.

The article does not specify a total addressable debt figure.

Sector Implications

Stakeholder	Potential Impact
GADs	Relief on central-government receivables; new asset valuation questions
Private suppliers	Alternative to cash collection on sovereign arrears
Real estate sector	Partial de facto liquidation of state portfolio; comparable-sales risk
Ministerio de Finanzas	Cashflow relief; centralized approval authority
Inmobiliar	Operational role in portfolio mobilization

What to Watch

• Volume of conveyances in H1 2026. Early uptake will indicate whether creditors view the process as functional or as a workaround with deep frictions.
• Valuation methodology disputes. Private creditors will push back hard on any pricing framework that values conveyed assets above market. Expect litigation.
• GAD adoption patterns. GADs with large central-government receivables — coastal and northern provinces affected by recent economic shocks — are the first test cases.
• Impact on active Inmobiliar sales. If debts-for-property conveyances remove desirable inventory, open-market real estate auctions by Inmobiliar could see thinner pipelines.
• Statutory implementation timeline. The directive was published April 14, 2026. Watch for the first dación de pago convenio executed under the new framework.

Source: El Universo