The President of the Republic, Juan Carlos Varela, will dedicate his last year of Government to achieving large public investments in an effort to give a greater boost to the local economy.
The allocated figure for the draft of the budget now exceeds $1,700 million. The final goal is to boost the GDP to an annual 5.9% growth on average.
However the former Minister of Economy and Finance, Dulcidio De La Guardia, opinions that the strike in the construction sector which occurred last May will reduce the GDP by 1 %, however, the general conditions are still favorable and the economy can maintain its sustained growth of around 5% per year.
In his opinion, it is for this reason that it is so important that before the end of this year all the bids for major infrastructure works are finalized, which explains the implementation of public investment project valued in $1,740.3 in the General State Budget for the fiscal year 2019.
The list includes works such as: The Panama Metro ($ 582.8 million), the Forth Bridge over the Canal ($ 288.7 million), Techos de Esperanza - subsidized housing projet in the Colon province ($ 163.6 million), Urban Renovation of Colón ($ 98.4 million), Sanitation of the Panama City-Bay ($ 108.2 million), potable water and sewage projects ($ 179.1 million); construction of hospitals in Colón, Darién, Veraguas, Chiriquí and Los Santos ($ 319.5 million).
Added to the construction of the Fourth Energy Line, the estimated costs of which are between $450 and 500 million, the final amount of infrastructure works that will be developed in the country as of next year would rise up to $ 2,403 million.
Meanwhile, a source from the Ministry of Economy and Finance (MEF) estimates that the country will benefit from the visit of thousands of pilgrims and representatives of the Catholic Church to participate in the World Youth Day (WYD) in January 2019, event that will visit the Pope Francis.
Another element that will help boost domestic demand and give impetus to the Panamanian economy are the activities around the voting period.
However perhaps director of the Economic Studies Center of the Chamber of Commerce (Ceecam), said it right: although WYD will bring a large number of visitors to the country, we must not forget that it is a temporary event and that its impact will be limited over time, so the country must identify and make the structural adjustments required to boost the growth of economic sectors linked to domestic demand, because it is precisely those sectors that push the demand forward.
Ferreira said that in order to face the economic slowdown that affects the country, it is necessary to develop State policies aimed at offering value-added services to the cargo that passes through the Panama Canal, increase the income of tourists and increase the productivity of the sectors. agricultural and manufacturing, which added to public investments in infrastructure and increased residential construction will boost the generation of jobs and give confidence to consumers and businesses to spend again.
