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QUITO, Ecuador, March 3 (Reuters) - Ecuador on Friday said its banks showed total net profits of $6.4 million in January after a $3.3 million profit in January 1999.
Ecuador's banking watchdog said the profit came as the sector fights to recover from a deep crisis which began in 1998.
While the private and state-run banking sector as a whole posted a profit, four of the 35 banks showed huge losses, Ecuador's Banking Superintendency said in a statement.
Ecuador's biggest bank earner was state-run Filanbanco with a profit of $13 million in January.
Since 1998, 15 Ecuadorean banks with liquidity problems have been rescued by the government. Industry analysts say the sector is too crowded for a country of Ecuador's size.
Ecuador's
economy,
one
of
the
weakest
in
Latin
America,
contracted
7.5
percent
in
1999,
and
the
government
was
forced
to
default
on
part
of
its
$13
billion
in
foreign
public
debt.
The
sucre
lost
two-thirds
of
its
value
last
year,
feeding
South
America's
highest
inflation
rate.
In 1999, Ecuadorean banks posted net losses of $154.4
million.