Panama's economy grew by 13.6% in the first quarter of 2022

Panama's gross domestic product (GDP) grew by 13.6% in the first quarter of 2022, compared to the same period in 2021, driven by trade, construction and transportation, the National Institute of Statistics reported Thursday. and Census (INEC).

The quarterly GDP registered an amount of 11,097.2 million dollars in the first three months of the year, with an increase of 1,327.8 million dollars compared to the same period last year, the official information specified.

The INEC, an entity of the General Comptroller's Office, pointed out that "the behavior of economic activities continues its recovery process thanks to the control of the pandemic, allowing the total opening of the economy despite the fact that, at the beginning of the quarter, there was a new wave of covid-19".

Panama's economy collapsed 17.9% in 2020 and recovered 15.3% in 2021 amid high unemployment (11.3%) and informal employment (47.6%), revealing that Internal sectors, which are the ones that generate the most jobs, were not recovering at the same rate as those that depend on external factors, such as the Panama Canal or mining exports.

In these years of pandemic, Panamanian public finances have deteriorated, with a fiscal deficit that shot up to 5.5% in 2021 and a debt-to-GDP ratio this year at 63%, according to official figures, well above about 40% of 2019.

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TRADE, CONSTRUCTION AND MINES DRIVE THE ECONOMY

According to preliminary official data, commercial activities led growth in the period under study with a variation of 22.4%, derived from the "increase in the volume of sales in wholesale trade in food products, beverages and tobacco, textiles, household goods and others".

Retail trade registered increases "in sales of food, fuel for motor vehicles, school supplies, hardware and paint, pharmaceutical products, car sales, among others," as well as re-exports from the Free Trade Zone Colon (ZLC), the largest in the continent.

The category of hotels and restaurants registered an increase of 63.6% in its Added Value, mainly due to the performance in restaurant services and the increase in the number of tourists and visitors to the country, after two years of continuous decline.

The Comptroller's Office indicated that construction, one of the main engines of the Panamanian economy, grew by 21.7%, as a result "of the development and reactivation of public investment in infrastructure works, as well as construction in residential and non-residential works ".

The transportation, storage and communications category showed an increase of 11.9%, induced by the Panama Canal, which increased its income from tolls by 2.6%; land and air transport, and telecommunications.

The activity of mines and quarries presented an increase of 9.2%, supported by the contribution of the extraction of basic material of stone, sand and clay, which are inputs for construction.

In contrast, the activity related to the volume of production of copper concentrate and its derivatives decreased, reaching 78,337 tons in the quarter, a lower amount than the same period of the previous year, said the Comptroller without further details.

The Panamanian Government expects the economy to grow by at least 5% of GDP in 2022.

Source:

https://www.eleconomista.net/economia/La-economia-de-Panama-crecio-un-13.6--en-el-primer-trimestre-de-2022-20220616-0007.html