Ecuador's Lasso said he would not disavow IMF deal if elected

Updates with quote, context

QUITO, Jan 27 (Reuters) - Conservative Ecuadorean presidential candidate Guillermo Lasso said on Wednesday that he will not disavow the country's financing agreement with the International Monetary Fund if elected, but added he would not raise the VAT tax.

Lasso currently trails in the polls behind leftist economist Andres Arauz, who has promised to scrap the IMF financing package and return to the socialist economic policies of his mentor, former president Rafael Correa.

"We are not going to disavow the agreement with the International Monetary Fund, what we are not going to do is raise VAT tax," he said in a press conference.

He added that he would also respect the terms of a debt restructuring agreement completed last year.

"All creditors can be sure that we will respect the renegotiation, which is the commitment of the state and not a government," he said.

President Lenin Moreno's government last year completed a $17.4 billion debt restructuring that was overwhelmingly accepted by investors. Arauz described it as overly favorable to creditors.

The election for a new president and legislature is set for Feb 7.

(Reporting by Alexandra Valencia, writing by Brian Ellsworth)

((brian.ellsworth@thomsonreuters.com; 58 212 655 2660; Reuters Messaging: brian.ellsworth.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net, @ReutersVzla))

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