Citi Warns that Panama is at Risk of Losing its Investment Grade and Recommends a Fiscal Adjustment and Resolving the Mine Issue
Citi believes that Panama could avoid a fiscal shock by reopening the mine and then closing it and thus not run the risk of paying high sums for arbitration.
In an analysis of the economic outlook for Latin America in 2025, Citi analysts warned that Panama is among the countries most at risk of losing its investment grade next year if it does not comply with a series of fiscal adjustment measures that will allow it to clean up its public finances and also resolve pending issues such as the ongoing reform of the Social Security Fund and the situation of the Cobre Panamá mine. Economist Esteban Tamayo, a member of Citi’s Latin American economic research group, warned that Panama must implement four urgent measures: reduction of budgetary spending, pension reforms (CSS), tax reform, and resolving the issue of the mine.
