Panama’s GDP up 9.5% in third quarter

Panama’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) presented an increase of 9.5% in the third quarter of 2022, compared to the same period of last year, reports the Comptroller General.

Comptroller Gerardo Solís said that the pandemic affected the economy for a long period due to the mobility restrictions of the population; coupled with external factors such as the increase in the price of fuel, which led to protests in the country at the beginning of the quarter.

The economist, René Bracho said that the recovery of the Panamanian economy continues to consolidate.

“The increase in growth in the third quarter demonstrates the fact that key infrastructure projects are being resumed and that household consumption by the end of the year is expanding the country’s effective demand,” he stressed.

While the economist, Gersán Joseph Garzón, stated that there is a tendency to increase, with the help of the economic dynamic. What contributes to this are new constructions, the purchase of new cars, and the purchase of machinery but warns the problem will be the sixth wave covid-19, which can slow down the economy and layoffs at the end of the year.