Panama’s Economy Grew 6.8 Percent in First Quarter of 2004

The Panamanian economy shot up 6.8 percent in the first quarter of the ongoing year compared to the same span of time the year before, with considerable contributions made by the nation’s leisure industry.

Panama’s Finance Minister Norberto Delgado said in a press conference that the disclosed economic numbers match this year’s 4.1 percent growth estimate.

Mr. Delgado said Wednesday the nation’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) could augment somewhere between 4.5 and 5.5 percent later this year.

Panama’s economic powerhouses during the first quarter of 2004 were exports, with a 9.2 percent spike from the first three months of 2003, coupled with building (up 29.6 percent), seaport operations (13.8 percent), fishing (18 percent) and bananas (33.6 percent).

Other major contributors were the Panama Canal with a 6.9 percent first-quarter increase, and the Colon Free Trade Zone (on the Atlantic shore) with a 13.2 percent flare-up.

The report also indicates that the country’s tourism jumped 18.5 percent and chipped in to these good first-quarter numbers in a big way.

Other economic activities that moved on the fast lane during the first three months of the year were power generation and water supply with a combined 19.1 percent hike.

On the flip side, however, financial activities skidded 2 percent (against a projected 2 percent increase), especially triggered by a meltdown of domestic insurance policies and slumping international loan operations.

As far as the current budget deficit is concerned, the public debt-GDP ratio could fall from 67.2 percent in December 2003 to 64 percent this time around.