Ecuador's private banks will be required to repatriate $1.2 billion in assets they now hold abroad, President Rafael Correa said on Saturday, as low crude prices and a debt default sap cash from the country's flagging economy. Private banks must now keep more than 45 percent of their assets in Ecuador to draw cash and boost “domestic liquidity” in the oil-dependent country, Correa said. The central bank ordered the measure into effect late Friday and central bank President Carlos Vallejo planned to announce additional details on Monday. “The party is over for certain bankers,” Correa told his weekly radio show. “We're not going to let them keep taking our money.”
