2026-01-01 | JPRFM-2026-021-MThe Financial and Monetary Policy and Regulation Board of Ecuador issued Resolution JPRFM-2026-021-M to reform the regulatory framework governing the provision of national fractional currency by the Central Bank of Ecuador. The resolution replaces Article 8 to establish a cost-benefit analysis for minting versus importing coins and prioritizes availability over cost during extraordinary events, while simultaneously derogating the previous Article 9. Additionally, the Board officially approved the initiation of the 2027 National Fractional Currency Minting Program and its specific operational characteristics.
RESOLUTION No. JPRFM-2026-021-M THE FINANCIAL AND MONETARY POLICY AND REGULATION BOARD
CONSIDERING:
That, Article 226 of the Constitution of the Republic of Ecuador prescribes that public servants and persons acting under a state authority shall exercise only the competencies and powers attributed to them in the Constitution and the Law;
That, Article 227 of the same Constitution states that Public Administration constitutes a service to the community governed by principles of effectiveness, efficiency, quality, hierarchy, coordination, planning, among others;
That, Article 261, numeral 5 of the Constitution of the Republic of Ecuador states that the central State shall have exclusive competencies over economic, tax, customs, tariff, fiscal, and monetary policies; foreign trade, and indebtedness;
That, Article 284, numeral 7 of the Constitution states that economic policy shall have as its objective to maintain economic stability, understood as the maximum level of sustainable production and employment over time;
That, Article 288 of the Constitution states that public purchases shall meet criteria of efficiency, transparency, quality, environmental and social responsibility, and national products and services, particularly those from the popular and solidarity economy and from micro, small, and medium productive units, shall be prioritized;
That, Article 302 of the Constitution of the Republic of Ecuador establishes as objectives of monetary, credit, exchange, and financial policies, among others, to supply the necessary means of payment so that the economic system operates with efficiency and to establish levels of global liquidity that guarantee adequate margins of financial security;
That, Article 303 of the Constitution of the Republic of Ecuador provides that the formulation of monetary, credit, exchange, and financial policies is the exclusive faculty of the Executive Function and shall be implemented through the Central Bank of Ecuador, in accordance with the law;
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That, on October 13, 2025, the Organic Reform Law of the Organic Monetary and Financial Code was published in the Sixth Supplement of the Official Register No. 142;
That, Article 13 of the Organic Monetary and Financial Code creates the Financial and Monetary Policy and Regulation Board, part of the Executive Function, as an organ with functional, technical, and institutional autonomy, and in its decisions, responsible for the formulation of monetary, credit, financial, securities, insurance, and prepaid comprehensive health care services policy and regulation. The Financial and Monetary Policy and Regulation Board shall be the highest governing body of the Central Bank of Ecuador;
That, Article 17 of the aforementioned Code, in its pertinent part, determines that:
"(...) For the fulfillment of these functions, the Board shall issue regulations in matters within its competence, without being able to alter legal provisions. The Financial and Monetary Policy and Regulation Board may issue regulations by segments, economic activities, and other criteria. It may even reform or derogate regulations from the former Monetary and Financial Policy and Regulation Board, the Financial Policy and Regulation Board, or the Monetary and Financial Policy and Regulation Board. All regulations and policies issued by the Financial and Monetary Policy and Regulation Board in the exercise of its functions, duties, and powers must be backed by duly substantiated technical and legal reports (...)";
That, Article 19 of the Code establishes the specific functions of the Board in the monetary sphere, stating that it is a competence of the Financial and Monetary Policy and Regulation Board, specifically in the monetary sphere, in its numeral 5, to formulate policy and regulate the management of physical means of payment;
That, Article 24 of the same Code provides that the acts of the Financial and Monetary Policy and Regulation Board enjoy the presumption of legality and shall be expressed through resolutions that shall have mandatory force, which shall govern from their publication in the Official Register, or from the date of their issuance when so determined by the Board, in accordance with the subject matter;
That, Article 25.2 of the Organic Monetary and Financial Code determines that the Technical Secretariat of the Financial and Monetary Policy and Regulation Board is exercised by the Central Bank of Ecuador, and Article 25.3 establishes as its functions the preparation of technical and legal reports supporting regulation proposals, providing technical and administrative support to the Financial and Monetary Policy and Regulation Board, and those other functions assigned to it by said Board;
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That, Article 27.1 of the Code states that the institutional autonomy of the Central Bank of Ecuador shall be respected at all times and its decisions shall respond to exclusively technical motivations that lead to the fulfillment of its functions and attributes;
That, numeral 16 of Article 36 of the aforementioned Code is to determine the characteristics and manage the provision, minting, circulation, exchange, withdrawal, and demonetization of fractional currency;
That, Article 94 of the Code states that the Central Bank of Ecuador is the only entity authorized to provide and manage national metallic fractional currency in the Republic of Ecuador, equivalent and convertible to United States dollars, backed by Reserve assets;
That, Article 95 of the same establishes that the Central Bank of Ecuador shall be obligated to timely satisfy the demand for monetary species in the Republic of Ecuador in order to guarantee the development of economic transactions, in accordance with the regulations issued by the Board;
That, General Provision Twenty-Ninth of the same states: "In existing legislation where mention is made, indistinctly, of the Monetary and Financial Policy and Regulation Board, the Monetary Policy and Regulation Board; or the Financial Policy and Regulation Board, replace and understand as 'Financial and Monetary Policy and Regulation Board'";
That, First Transitional Provision of the Organic Reform Law of the Organic Monetary and Financial Code determines that the members of the Financial and Monetary Policy and Regulation Board, sworn in on September 16, 2025, by the National Assembly, shall continue to exercise their functions for the periods for which they were designated and shall maintain their labor continuity and acquired rights;
That, through Official Letter No. T.233-SGJ-25-098 of September 5, 2025, signed by the Constitutional President of the Republic, addressed to the President of the National Assembly, the list of candidates for the designation of the Members of the Financial and Monetary Policy and Regulation Board was sent; as well as the temporality of their stay within the initial period;
That, the Plenary of the National Assembly, on September 16, 2025, designated and swore in the members of the Financial and Monetary Policy and Regulation Board, in the persons of: Gustavo Estuardo Camacho Dávila; Silvia Daniela Moya Arteta; Roberto Javier Basantes Romero; and, María Isabel Camacho Cárdenas;
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That, the Financial and Monetary Policy and Regulation Board, in Ordinary Session No. 012-2026, under hybrid modality, on April 29, 2026, reviewed the proposal for the reform of Article 8 and derogation of Article 9 of Subsection 3 "Policy for Provision of National Fractional Currency by the Central Bank of Ecuador", Section 2 "Physical Means of Payment", Chapter 1 "Currency, Means and Payment Systems in Ecuador and Fintech Activities of its Participants" of the Codification of Monetary Policy Resolutions and Operations of the Central Bank of Ecuador; and the initiation of the National Fractional Currency Minting Program for the 2027 period and its specific characteristics, sent via Memorandum No. BCE-BCE-2026-0134-M, of April 24, 2026, by the Acting General Manager of the Central Bank of Ecuador to the President of the Financial and Monetary Policy and Regulation Board; as well as the Reserved Technical Report No. BCE-GMPSN-011-2026 / SEM-146-2026, of April 17, 2026; and, the Reserved Legal Report No. BCE-GJ-008-2026, of April 21, 2026; and,
In exercise of its functions and in attention to Article 24 of the Organic Monetary and Financial Code, the Financial and Monetary Policy and Regulation Board,
RESOLVES:
Article 1. – Replace Article 8 of Subsection 3 "POLICY FOR PROVISION OF NATIONAL FRACTIONAL CURRENCY BY THE CENTRAL BANK OF ECUADOR", Section 2 "PHYSICAL MEANS OF PAYMENT", Chapter I "CURRENCY, MEANS AND PAYMENT SYSTEMS IN ECUADOR AND FINTECH ACTIVITIES OF ITS PARTICIPANTS", Title I "Monetary System" of the Codification of Monetary Policy Resolutions and Operations of the Central Bank of Ecuador, with the following text:
"Article 8.- Initiation of minting program: For the initiation of a national fractional currency minting program, the lower cost between the importation of the different denominations of fractional coins from the Federal Reserve of the United States of America and minting shall be considered; and, the availability of the Federal Reserve of the United States of America to provide species to the Central Bank of Ecuador within the timeframes and conditions that allow it to maintain adequate levels of fractional coins; guaranteeing the quality of the monetary species. The Central Bank of Ecuador will prioritize the availability of fractional currency over its acquisition cost, when extraordinary events that have affected the supply or demand of the different species are registered."
Article 2. – Derogate Article 9 of Subsection 3 "POLICY FOR PROVISION OF NATIONAL FRACTIONAL CURRENCY BY THE CENTRAL BANK OF ECUADOR", Section
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2 "PHYSICAL MEANS OF PAYMENT", Chapter I "CURRENCY, MEANS AND PAYMENT SYSTEMS IN ECUADOR AND FINTECH ACTIVITIES OF ITS PARTICIPANTS", Title I "Monetary System" of the Codification of Monetary Policy Resolutions and Operations of the Central Bank of Ecuador.
Article 3. – Review the initiation of the National Fractional Currency Minting Program for the 2027 period and its specific characteristics.
FINAL PROVISION. - This resolution shall enter into force from its issuance, without prejudice to its publication in the Official Register.
The General Secretariat of the Central Bank of Ecuador is entrusted with its publication on the institutional website and the updating of the Codification of Monetary Policy Resolutions and Operations of the Central Bank of Ecuador.
NOTIFY AND PUBLISH. - Given in the city of Cuenca, on April 29, 2026.
THE PRESIDENT Mgs. Gustavo Estuardo Camacho Dávila
The resolution preceding this was processed and signed by Master Gustavo Estuardo Camacho Dávila - President of the Financial and Monetary Policy and Regulation Board, in the city of Cuenca, on April 29, 2026.- I CERTIFY.
TECHNICAL SECRETARY Attorney Ninoska Geovanna Ceballos Pin