Capac and Housing Developers Warn of the Importance of Extending the Preferential Interest Law up to $120,000

The Panamanian Chamber of Construction (Capac) met with promoters and developers of housing from different regions of the country, including the provinces of Panama, Panama West, Chiriquí, Veraguas, Herrera, Los Santos and Coclé, to examine the Executive’s proposal regarding the extension of the Preferential Interest Law, noting the need for this benefit to be maintained for homes valued up to $120,000.  This meeting took place in a critical context for the construction sector, which is going through one of its worst crises.

The current situation, resulting from the upcoming expiration of the Preferential Interest Law, in sections 1 and 2 of housing, up to $120,000.00, has had an immediate impact on the loss of more than 12,000 jobs, a significant drop in municipal tax collection and the uncertainty of families whose approved credits were rejected, seriously affecting their ability to access their own home.  According to Alejandro Ferrer Solís, president of Capac, the aim of this first meeting is to address a proposal that responds to the reality of the market both in the capital and in the interior of the country. 

He explained that this working group will convene other meetings, where key players from the banking sector will join the dialogue, as well as contractors and suppliers; among other actors who are part of the activities related to construction, whose sector has a share of 15.67% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the country, based on data from the National Institute of Statistics and Census (INEC).  The associations called together argued that the economy of the interior provinces is seriously affected, given that the participation of construction and real estate activities in the GDP reaches 22.7% on average, which represents a significant contribution to the regional economy, so that the halting of the construction of social housing could result in a drastic loss of jobs.