	ecuador says it will pay debt when it can president leon febres cordero said ecuador would honour its debt when it had the capacity to make payments but said foreign banks had calculated oil would have to be dlrs a barrel for ecuador to meet its commitments ecuador said on friday that last week s earthquake was forcing it to reaffirm an earlier decision based on the slide in world oil prices to suspend debt payments to private foreign banks which hold two thirds of its billion dlr foreign debt all legitimate debt is a commitment of honour the president said during a visit to the quake zone a government as a sovereign entity has dignity and prestige to maintain private foreign banks and the world bank had calculated oil would have to be at least dlrs a barrel for quito to be able to meet its commitments febres cordero said he added that ecuadorean  was now selling for to dlrs a barrel after having been sold for many months at dlrs a barrel and as low as seven dlrs before that meanwhile ecuador announced an austerity program and a price freeze on key consumer goods as a result of the earthquake which killed at least people presidency minister patricio quevedo said the budget would be cut by five to pct government hiring would be frozen and salaries of top officials including the president and cabinet would be reduced he also said a price freeze would be imposed on basic consumer items mainly food staples while the price of gasoline would rise by between and pct and bus fares would rise by pct gasoline supplies would also be limited reuter 
