OPINION: Tax hikes the "New Normal"

With each passing year, Panama sets a record: that of its public debt. This month it stood at nearly $33.58 billion. Last year, for this same date, the balance of this debt was about $ 5 billion less. In other words, in one-year debt equivalent to the cost of the Canal expansion has been contracted. It is a dizzying rate of indebtedness, amid the collapse of the economy due to the pandemic. How long can this level of indebtedness be sustained without the Government having to resort to creating new taxes in order to pay? The dance of the millions began in the Martinelli administration; He continued with Varela, and with Cortizo, he continues. Nothing stops them, because, in the end, it is not the rulers who pay the debts, but the citizens. It is not that it is necessarily bad to use credit to make investments, but we have witnessed the waste, the theft and, in many cases, how unnecessary they are. These “investments” are often the excuse to negotiate, and that is why credit costs us twice as much: interest and bribes. It is difficult to see the result of such a debt. Thing of time: sooner or later the citizens will have to pay for the party. That will be another new “normal”.LA PRENSA, Sep 20.