Ecuador GDP Growth Slowed in 2014 for Third Year on Oil Decline

The rate of growth in Ecuador, South America’s seventh biggest economy, slowed for a third year in 2014 as falling crude oil prices and a refinery shutdown offset gains from higher fishing and electricity output.

Gross domestic product rose 3.8 percent in 2014 from a year earlier, less than the government’s 4 percent forecast, the central bank said Saturday in a statement on its website. Growth was the slowest since 2010’s 3.5 percent.