Ecuador to hike taxes

Ecuador will temporarily increase some taxes, sell assets, and may issue new bonds on the international market to fund a multi-billion dollar reconstruction after a devastating 7.8 magnitude quake, a somber President Rafael Correa said late Wednesday.

The death toll from Ecuador's weekend earthquake neared 600 and rescue missions ebbed as the traumatised Andean nation braced itself for long and costly rebuilding.

"It's hard to imagine the magnitude of the tragedy. Every time we visit a place, there are more problems," Correa said, fresh from touring the disaster zone.

The leftist leader estimated the disaster had inflicted $2 billion to $3 billion of damage and could knock 2 to 3 percentage points off growth, meaning the economy will almost certainly shrink this year.

In addition to $600 million in credit from multilateral lenders, Correa, an economist, announced a raft of measures to help repair homes, roads, and bridges along the devastated Pacific Coast.

"We're looking at the possibility of issuing bonds on the international market," he said on Wednesday afternoon, without providing details.

In a nationally televised address later on Wednesday, Correa also announced the OPEC nation was poised to shed assets.

"The country has many assets thanks to investment over all these years and we will seek to sell some of them to overcome these difficult moments," he said.

He also unveiled several short-term tax changes, including a 2-point increase in the Valued Added Tax for a year, as well as a "one-off 3 percent additional contribution on profits," although the fine print was not immediately clear.

Four days on, some isolated communities struggled without water, power or transport, as torn-up roads stymied deliveries. Along the coast, stadiums served as morgues and aid distribution centres.

Rescuers were losing hope of finding anyone alive even as relatives of the missing begged them to keep looking.