Panama gets over $1 billion from Canal

PANAMA’S NATIONAL Treasury will get a more than $1 billion fillip from The Panama Canal Authority (ACP)whose Board of Directors has approved the 2016 payment.

The information was released on Friday December 16.

The payment includes money for services rendered bythe state, as well as the surplus revenue for the year.

The amount is virtually the same as the amount budgeted at the beginning of the year. The fiscal year, runs from October 1, 2015 to September 30, 2016.

Of the total, $630.7 million correspond to the economic surplus of the operation of the waterway, $380 million to the rights per ton of transit and $2.4 million to the payment for services rendered by the State, the Authority said.

In the same period, the water route obtained $1,933.1 billion in toll revenues, 13,114 transits were carried out and 330.7 million tons were moved

2017 projection
The inter-oceanic route calculates that with the entry into service of the expansion, inaugurated on June 26, the contribution to the State will triple in 10 years.

For the 2017 fiscal year the contribution of the channel is expected to be $ 1.6 billion.

The expansion of the waterway, which allows the passage of much larger, ships with capacity to carry up to 13,000   containers, began to in 2007 with a cost that already amounts to $5.45 billion dollars.

The main project of the project, the third set of locks, was built by the Grupo Unidos por el Canal (GUPC) consortium, led by the Spanish company Sacyr.

The canal  which accounts for about 6 percent of world trade and was built by the US at the beginning of the last century, links more than 140 sea routes and 1,700 ports in 160 different countries.

In 17 years of Panamanian administration, the Panama Canal has delivered direct contributions to the Nation  of $ 11,678.2 billion.

During the 85 years of US administration  it contributed  only $1,877 billion.