MADRID, April 22 (Reuters) – Feima, a company that handleswater and power installations, has asked a judge to put Spanishproperty company Realia (RLIA.MC) into administration for anunpaid debt of 300,000 euros, a court spokesman said onWednesday. In a statement to the stock market regulator, Realia, whichis a joint venture between Spanish builder FCC (FCC.MC) andsavings bank Caja Madrid, said the matter was related to”contractual discrepancies” and denied that it needed to filefor administration. Realia said it “regularly meets its payment obligations andhas no liquidity problems”. (Reporting by Andres Gonzalez; writing by Judy MacInnes,editing by Will Waterman). April 22 (Reuters) – Ecuadoreans pleased with his strongleadership and spending on the poor are expected to re-electPresident Rafael Correa in a first round of voting on Sunday. Bonds After more than two years in office, the socialist Correahas already outlasted his three immediate predecessors, whowere all ousted by street protests and political turmoil.

Here are some facts about Ecuador and Correa: * Taking its name from the equator it straddles, Ecuador isa volcanic country of poor Andean villages, remote Amazontribes and bustling ports. The outlandish wildlife in itsGalapagos islands inspired Darwin’s theory of evolution. * A little larger than Great Britain, Ecuador is theworld’s top banana exporter and is rich in copper and gold butits economy is driven mainly by oil exports and money sent homefrom immigrants overseas. * Rafael Correa was born April 6, 1963, to a lowermiddle-class family in the port city of Guayaquil. He picked upan economics degree from the local university before winningscholarships to study in Belgium and the United States, wherehe received his doctorate in 2001. * Correa has defaulted on billions of dollars of foreigndebt he declared “illegal,” expelled U.S.

embassy officials,and severed diplomatic ties with Colombia over a military raid.All these moves were applauded by most Ecuadoreans. * A former economy minister, Correa has spent billions ofdollars on social projects since he took office in 2007. In thefirst few months of 2008 his government invested $2.2 billionfixing schools, revamping hospitals and building housing forthe needy, according to finance ministry data * Correa rarely shies from a fight. His no-nonsense styleis popular among Ecuadoreans used to weak leaders bowing toforeign and domestic pressures. * Ecuador adopted the dollar as its currency in 2000 duringa financial crisis that thrust poverty levels to about 70percent and prompted millions to leave for the United Statesand Europe. (Reporting by Frank Jack Daniel; Editing by Kieran Murray) (For a story on Sunday’s election, click on [ID:nN22534802],and for a Q+A on Correa’s policies, click on [ID:nN22536617])) Bonds. ORLANDO, Florida (Reuters) – General Electric Co (GE.N) Chief Executive Jeff Immelt said on Wednesday that it is hard to tell how long the current recession will linger and was blasted by shareholders for GE’s 68 percent dividend cut.

France  |  Economy”It’s difficult to predict how bad this will be and how long this will last,” Immelt said at the company’s shareholder meeting in Orlando, Florida, where the largest U.S conglomerate has a large entertainment business. “The global economy and capitalism itself have been fundamentally reset.”Immelt, 53, faced repeated shareholder criticism for the dividend cut, a February move that the company said would save it about $9 billion a year.”By Mr. Immelt cutting the dividend by two-thirds, it hits the retirees who can no longer afford to live the lifestyle they are used to,” said Jack Richards, 68, who resides in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, who was part of a crowd of several dozen GE retirees picketing outside the meeting. “I can’t afford to do the things I used to do, I’ve cut back on travel, I can’t go back to visit my son in Boston.”Several questioners during the meeting asked why Immelt had continued to defend the Fairfield, Connecticut-based company’s payout as late as a month prior to the cut.”The world got worse,” Immelt said.

He said that when the Federal Reserve had announced that it would be evaluating the stability of the U.S. banks: “We thought it was important that we had extra safety so that we could pass all the tests.”Chief Financial Officer Keith Sherin said the cut was a tough call but necessary to protect the company.”The decision to cut the dividend between Jeff and I was the toughest decision we’ve ever wrestled with,” Sherin said. “At the end of the day the decision was to protect the franchise.”CALLS SHARE PERFORMANCE ‘DISAPPOINTING’Shareholders also lamented the pounding GE shares have taken over the past year. They are down about 65 percent over the past year, a deeper drop than the approximate 37 percent fall of the Dow Jones industrial average .DJI.