Panama’s Economic Growth Heading Into Double Digits
By Denis Foynes
Live and Invest Overseas Corespondent
“Panama is expected to grow by double digits at the end of 2012 and continues to reduce its poverty and unemployment rates.”
A report released today goes on to state that,
- Investments are being made without resorting to new borrowing…,
- The government continues to prioritize projects that improve quality of life for Panamanians…,
- Continuity and the creation of social programs promoted in this administration has resulted in more than 100,000 Panamanians escaping poverty.
For the first half of the year, Panama’s growth rate stood at 10.6%, driven by the transport, construction, trade, and tourism industries. (In the past two years alone, the nation’s tourism industry has increased by 30%.) Recent data shows now that – Panama is on the way to end the year with double-digit growth, as it did in 2011.
Panama’s economy has not been affected by the global economic slowdown thanks to expansion of the Panama Canal and investment in mining and construction, Panama’s Economy and Finance Minister Frank De Lima has previously explained.
With the canal expansion, the recently signed free trade agreement with the United States and, Central America’s first subway soon to be completed, the news from Panama continues to be bright.
Panama’s major challenge will be to discover an effective way for the wealth it’s generating to trickle down to its lower class. Despite the country’s super growth, still one-third of Panamanians live in poverty, with 15% struggling with extreme poverty.
