Panama GDP reaches new high

PANAMA’S Ministry of Economy and Finance reported Monday, July 21, that the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) will be almost $47.5 billion this year, an increase of $4.8 billion.
The growth, driven by high domestic demand will be between 6.5 percent and 7 percent, “well above the regional average in Latin America and the Caribbean, which, according to the International Monetary Fund, will be 2.5 percent,” the ministry said.
This growth is equal to that reported by the government at the end of the first quarter of the year, and an increase over what was predicted last year, reports La Prensa.
The government’s projections through 2018 called for GDP to reach almost $46 billion at the end of this year.
If the new projection is fulfilled, the GDP would have tripled between 2005 (when it was $15. billion) and 2014.
Ministry official Eloy Fisher said that the expansive cycle in the economy can be explained by the multiplier effect generated by the Panama Canal, foreign investment that has turned the country into a business “hub” and the high level of investment in social programs and infrastructure.