IESS Plans Real Estate Sales to Address Financial Sustainability Crisis, Targeting $2 Billion in Liquidity

The Ecuadorian Social Security Institute (IESS) is planning to sell real estate to secure liquidity, addressing a financial sustainability crisis, particularly affecting its Pension Fund. Bernardo Cordovez, president of the IESS Board of Directors, reported on September 10, 2026, that 175 properties have been identified for sale. These properties are primarily located in the provinces of Guayas, Pichincha, Manabí, Santa Elena, and Azuay. Cordovez stated the objective is to initiate sales immediately. President Daniel Noboa indicated that the IESS could obtain USD 2,000 million in liquidity from these asset sales.

The identified properties include terrains, buildings, and houses, some of which are currently invaded. The IESS is working on their regularization to facilitate the sales process. The institution's procedure for selling non-institutional use real estate is outlined in the Regulation for the Alienation of Non-Institutional Use Real Estate Owned by the IESS, approved in May 2023 via Resolution 657. Only properties not used for administrative or service activities are eligible for sale.

To commence asset sales, the IESS Director General must first present the Annual Plan for the Alienation of Non-Institutional Use Real Estate to the Board of Directors for approval. Provincial Directorates are responsible for conducting appraisals of the properties, which must be performed by an expert authorized by the Superintendency of Banks, as per a July 2026 reform to Article 5 of the Regulation. The base price for sale will be the appraised value, or the cadastral value if it is higher. For the auction process, appraisals conducted within the last two calendar years are considered valid. The sale must be conducted through public auction, announced on the IESS website and national media at least 15 days before the auction. Awarded bidders are required to pay the offered amount in cash within a maximum of three months from the notification date of the award.

As of March 19, 2026, the IESS's property registry comprised 1,387 properties across all 24 provinces. An IESS report indicates that these properties have been devalued over the past 20 years due to a lack of new appraisals since the registry's creation in 2006. A planned consultancy process, published on July 2, 2026, with a budget of USD 1.8 million to update the property registry, was canceled by Sercop on July 20, 2026, because the IESS did not respond to questions posed during the process.

What to watch

Monitoring the IESS's progress in regularizing invaded properties and securing the necessary approvals for the Annual Plan for Alienation will be crucial. The actual timeline for initiating public auctions and the realized liquidity from these sales will indicate the effectiveness of this strategy in addressing the IESS's financial challenges. The IESS's ability to conduct new appraisals and ensure fair market value for sales, especially given past devaluation and a canceled consultancy, warrants attention.

Sources: primicias.ec.