Economy - overview:
According to the CIA World Factbook, Panama has an unemployment rate of 6.4% and according to the ECLAC,[9] the poverty rate is of 28,6% as of 2006, comparable to that of wealthier nations such as Argentina. Also, an alimentary surplus was registered in August 2008 and infrastructure works are progressing rapidly. The IMF has predicted that Panama will be the fastest growing economy in Latin American in 2009. It was the second fastest growing economy in Latin America in 2008, after Peru.
Panama's economy is mainly service-based, heavily weighted toward banking, commerce, tourism, trading and private industries, due to its key geographic location. The handover of the canal and military installations by the United States has given rise to some construction projects. The Martín Torrijos administration has undertaken controversial structural reforms, such as a fiscal reform and a very difficult Social Security Reform.[citation needed] Furthermore, a referendum regarding the building of a third set of locks for the Panama Canal was approved overwhelmingly (though with low voter turnout) on 22 October 2006. The official estimate of the building of the third set of locks is US$5.25 billion.
The Panamanian currency is the balboa, fixed at parity with the United States dollar since 1903. In practice, however, the country is dollarized; Panama has its own coinage but uses US dollars for all its paper currency. Panama was the first of the three countries in Latin America to have dollarized their economies, later followed by Ecuador and El Salvador.
Globalization
Traditional coffee-drying at the Alto Boquete plant of Cafe RuizThe high levels of Panamanian trade are in large part from the Colón Free Trade Zone, the largest free trade zone in the Western Hemisphere. Last year the zone accounted for 92% of Panama's exports and 64% of its imports, according to an analysis of figures from the Colon zone management and estimates of Panama's trade by the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC). Panama's economy is also very much supported by the trade and exportation of coffee.
Inflation
According to the Economic Commission for Latin American and the Caribbean (ECLAC, or CEPAL by its more-commonly used Spanish acronym), Panama's inflation as measured by weight CPI was 2.0 percent in 2006. Panama has traditionally experienced low inflation.
Real estate
Panama City, PanamaPanama's strategic location, pension programs, tax exemptions, low cost of living, tropical and highland climates and investment incentives have seen and assisted with the ongoing real estate boom that has been affecting Panama City and the rest of the country.
Apart from the existing demand, future developments may be helped by such factors as the planned expansion of the Panama Canal.
GDP (purchasing power parity):
$34.81 billion (2007 est.)
GDP (official exchange rate):
$19.74 billion (2007 est.)
GDP - real growth rate:
11.2% (2007 est.)
GDP - per capita (PPP):
$10,700 (2007 est.)
GDP - composition by sector:
agriculture: 6.6%
industry: 16.4%
services: 77% (2007 est.)
Labor force:
1.362 million
note: shortage of skilled labor, but an oversupply of unskilled labor (2007 est.)
Labor force - by occupation:
agriculture: 15%
industry: 18%
services: 67% (2006)
Unemployment rate:
6.4% (2007 est.)
Inflation rate (consumer prices):
4.2% (2007 est.)
Investment (gross fixed):
20.2% of GDP (2007 est.)
Budget:
revenues: $5.505 billion
expenditures: $4.822 billion (2007 est.)
Public debt:
53% of GDP (2007 est.)
Agriculture - products:
bananas, rice, corn, coffee, sugarcane, vegetables; livestock; shrimp
Industries:
construction, brewing, cement and other construction materials, sugar milling
Industrial production growth rate:
10.5% (2007 est.)
Electricity - production:
5.661 billion kWh (2005)
Electricity - consumption:
4.735 billion kWh (2005)
Electricity - exports:
51 million kWh (2005)
Electricity - imports:
55 million kWh (2005)
Oil - exports:
4,140 bbl/day (2004)
Oil - imports:
92,170 bbl/day (2004)
Oil - proved reserves:
0 bbl (1 January 2006 est.)
Current account balance:
-$1.577 billion (2007 est.)
Exports:
$9.312 billion f.o.b.; note - includes the Colon Free Zone (2007 est.)
Exports - commodities:
bananas, shrimp, sugar, coffee, clothing
Exports - partners:
Venezuela 55%, US 9.4%, Germany 6.5%, Spain 4.1% (2007)
Imports:
$12.62 billion f.o.b.
note: includes the Colon Free Zone (2007 est.)
Imports - commodities:
capital goods, foodstuffs, consumer goods, chemicals
Imports - partners:
Japan 28.7%, China 18.6%, Singapore 12.8%, US 12.5% (2007)
Economic aid - recipient:
$19.54 million (2005)
Reserves of foreign exchange and gold:
$1.935 billion (31 December 2007 est.)
Debt - external:
$10.45 billion (31 December 2007 est.)
Market value of publicly traded shares:
$5.074 billion (2005)
Currency (code):
balboa (PAB); US dollar (USD)
Exchange rates:
balboas per US dollar - 1 (2007), 1 (2006), 1 (2005), 1 (2004), 1 (2003)
Fiscal year:
calendar year
Courtesy of Wikipedia and CIA World Fact Book
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