In private, senior financial officials in Washington suggest that regional dollarisation is a sensible long-term goal.
Whether dollarisation was the right policy for Ecuador is now a matter for academic debate.
The conservative government hopes that dollarisation will cut borrowing costs, which start at around 15%.
But a slump could lead to debt default and a messy exit from dollarisation.
He is a strong proponent of dollarisation, and had been leading the talks with Ecuador's foreign creditors.
Ecuadoreans may like the idea of dollarisation, but many will find themselves worse off before they feel richer.
So dollarisation would not solve Argentina's trading problems nor, of itself, bring growth.
In Mexico, a poll three months ago found that nine out of ten people preferred dollarisation to a floating peso.
But the other option on the cards, full dollarisation and the complete abandonment of the national currency, would be equally painful.
Yet the economic overhaul needed to make dollarisation work would be hard to pull off even with a strong and credible president.
Thanks to the dollarisation of Zimbabwe's worthless currency in January 2009, the economy is growing for the first time in a decade.
Dollarisation is bringing economic stability, but can it also bring sustainable growth?
Furthermore, the country is not facing a dilemma between dollarisation and devaluation.
But it is still early days, for dollarisation and for Mr Noboa.
The president-elect has pledged to retain dollarisation, but his commitment to reducing the country's debt-servicing ratios has raised the prospect of another default.
ECONOMIST: Ecuador's radical new president promises big changes
If dollarisation is to spare Ecuador the slump suffered by Argentina (whose currency is pegged to the dollar), the government must strengthen public finances.
They must either fully fix their currency, to the dollar, say, through a currency board or dollarisation, or they must allow it to float freely.
But ordinary Ecuadoreans remain deeply sceptical of the dollarisation plan.
Mindful at least of the need for economic reform to accompany dollarisation, Mr Mahuad was this week preparing a bill containing the most pressing reforms to send to Congress.
The alternative to dollarisation is not necessarily devaluation.
Salvadoreans have already started to benefit from dollarisation.
Dollarisation is indeed a viable policy option thanks to a conservative and successful monetary policy adopted over the past ten years which has led to economic stability, single-digit inflation and high levels of international reserves.
To calm lenders' nerves, he has promised to honour his debt obligations, increase oil production by granting concessions to foreign investors, strengthen dollarisation and include business types in his cabinet, which will be picked soon.
The current stampede of industrial and emerging countries alike toward floating-cum-inflation targeting, and away from exchange-rate and monetary anchors, suggests that this combination is the only real alternative to giving up a national currency in favour of monetary union or dollarisation.
Mr Noboa has tried to appease this group with extra spending for rural schools and health-care projects, but the farmers remain opposed to dollarisation and they can be expected to try to bring the country to a halt when fuel prices rise.
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