Retail tourism is also a worry for Ecuador’s government. The country adopted the dollar as its currency in 2000 to escape from hyperinflation. Its current strength, along with weak productivity and low prices for oil, Ecuador’s biggest export, helped make the economy contract by an estimated 0.6% in 2015. Colombia, by contrast, grew by around 3% last year and should grow by more than 2% in 2016 despite the oil slump, in part because its weaker currency is expected to boost non-oil exports.
To fight the downturn, Ecuador’s government is calling on its citizens to shop at home. “Prefer what’s ours,” pleaded a government statement issued in September. As long as the dollar is strong, many Ecuadorean shoppers will prefer Putumayo