After spending sprees Panama future worrisome

The future for Panama could be “very worrisome” say observers following a World Bank report presented in Washington on Tuesday June 10.

The report calls for a year of meager growth around the world due to weakness experienced in the first quarter of 2014.

It heightens the concerns of local economists and observers following the Martinelli years of big spending and increasing debt, and as the showtime infrastructure projects peter out, leaves the incoming administration to pay the piper.
The report breaks down data from countries in developing regions of the world. It also devotes a special section to Latin America and the Caribbean, stating "activity in Latin America and the Caribbean has been loose as a result of the stabilization or decline of commodity prices, slower growth of the gross domestic product (GDP) of the United States in the first quarter and internal problems."
On the other hand, it is expected that Bolivia and Panama will grow by more than 5 percent this year, despite the fact that Panama had a growth of 10.8 percent in 2011, which decreased to 8.0 percent in 2013 according to estimated data of the World Bank. The international institution provides that the Panamanian growth will be between 6.4 and 6.8 percent between 2014 and 2016.
"Data indicates that more than a cyclical downturn, the main concern for the region is that the diminished long-term growth will become the new normal," the report said.
It states that the región needs "structural reforms aimed at improving the quality of the workforce and promoting research, development and innovation to promote growth."
Panamanian Economist Eloy Fisher, based in New York, said the report "is very worrisome. The downward revisions of growth are the product of the progressive slowdown in China's demand for goods in the Latin American region."
He added that the "next administration will need to maneuver with caution and expertise over the uncertain landscape that will face Panama in the next two to three years."