MEF highlights the country’s economic growth in 2022

Minister of Economy and Finance (MEF), Hector Alexanderreported that the Panamanian economy has recovered strongly, creating a large number of formal jobs and with one of the lowest inflation rates in the world.

The minister said this in the presentation of the report: 2022 General Treasury Billin Committee for Economy and Finance of the National Assembly.

Alexander pointed out that the document is divided into six main topics: Economic Performance 2022, Fiscal Balance, Execution of the General State Budget, Public Debt, Single Treasury Account and Panama Savings Fund.

He emphasized that it is Gross domestic product (GDP) at current prices in 2022, in total 76,522.5 million dollars. This means that the country reached and exceeded the level of GDP before the pandemic (2019 68,721.8 million dollars), showing the resilience of the economic structure and the effectiveness of various actions to stimulate economic recovery, implemented by the public and private sectors.

The Minister presented the economic results of Panama to the representatives of the aforementioned Commission, pointing out that trade, construction and transport, storage and post are the main drivers of Panama’s economic performance in 2022.

Similarly, it was reported that trade contributed 28.4% of economic growth, due to the dynamism of local consumption and Zone without colon (ZLC)construction contributed 22.6% and an important recovery reinforced by public investments.

The senior official emphasized that transport, storage and mail contributed to the growth with 14.1 percent, thanks to the dynamism of air and land transport.

Hotels and restaurants contributed to growth with 5.0%. Likewise, in 2022, tourism gave an additional boost to the economy.

Meanwhile, mining was also an important driver in 2022, contributing to growth at 2.4%. The Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) is still crucial. By the second quarter of 2022, foreign direct investment has increased by 150%, Alexander emphasized.

Alexander pointed out that the Public Private Partnership (PPP) has a key role in infrastructure development in the near future: the East and West Pan American Highway and the Fourth Electric Transmission Line are in the pre-feasibility and feasibility phase.