Ecuador Names Cordovez as Head of Expanded Finance Ministry

Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa picked Bernardo Cordovez to succeed Sariha Moya as finance minister, according to an executive decree published Monday.

Sovereign bonds due in 2039 fell 2 cents to 92.9 cents on the dollar, extending losses after the announcement, according to indicative pricing data collected by Bloomberg.

Noboa has vastly expanded the ministry’s duties, changing its name to the Ministry of Economic and Productive Development while expanding its remit to include foreign trade and agriculture as well as public finance and the economy.

“It’s unknown why they replaced Sariha Moya,” said Ramiro Blazquez, a strategist at StoneX Securities. But “with the fiscal uncertainty and El Niño just before elections, it’s not settling news.”

Under Moya, the International Monetary Fund expanded a loan program for the South American nation to $5 billion from $4 billion.

Cordovez was appointed as an adviser at the finance ministry in April 2025, according to newspaper Expreso. A month later, he was named general manager of the Bank of the Ecuadorian Institute of Social Security and in November of 2025 he took over the presidency of the institute itself.

The IESS, as it’s known, is the state-run social security and health system for full-time employees. It’s also a key buyer of domestic government bonds.