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Overview: Because of its key
geographic location, Panama's economy is service-based, heavily
weighted toward banking, commerce, and tourism. The hand-over of the
canal and military installations by the US has given ris to new
construction projects. The MOSCOSO administration inherited an economy
that is much more structurally sound and liberalized than the one
inherited by its predecessor. Even though export demand is likely to
remain slack in some key markets - especially the Andean countries -
GDP growth in 2000 probably will be 3% to 4%. Key reform initiatives
from the previous administration - including the privatization of
public utilities - remain uncompleted. Although President MOSCOSO is
unlikely to overturn any previous reforms, her populist leanings make
it unlikely any new initiatives will be undertaken in the near future.
Indeed, the government has failed to formulate a comprehensive
economic policy framework, and the only concrete step it has taken by
yearend 1999 has been a hike in agricultural tariffs.
GDP: purchasing power parity
- $21 billion (1999 est.)
GDP: real growth rate: 4.4% (1999 est.)
GDP: per capita: purchasing power parity - $7,600 (1999 est.)
GDP: composition by sector:
Agriculture: 8%
Industry: 25%
Services: 67% (1997 est.)
Population below poverty
line: NA%
Household income or
consumption by percentage share:
Lowest 10%: 0.5%
Highest 10%: 42.5% (1991)
Inflation rate (consumer
prices): 1.5% (1999 est.)
Labor force: 1.044 million
(1997 est.)
Note: shortage of skilled
labor, but an oversupply of unskilled labor
Labor force - by occupation:
agriculture 18%, industry 18%, services 64% (1997 est.)
Unemployment rate: 13.1%
(1997 est.)
Budget:
Revenues: $2.4 billion
Expenditures: $2.4 billion,
including capital expenditures of $341 million (1997 est.)
Industries: construction,
petroleum refining, brewing, cement and other construction
materials, sugar milling
Industrial production growth
rate: 0.4% (1995 est.)
Electricity: production:
4.523 billion kWh (1998)
Electricity: production by
source:
Fossil fuel: 25.56%
Hydro: 73.78%
Nuclear: 0%
Other: 0.66% (1998)
Electricity - consumption:
4.329 billion kWh (1998)
Electricity - exports: 13
million kWh (1998)
Electricity - imports: 136
million kWh (1998)
Agriculture - products:
bananas, rice, corn, coffee, sugarcane, vegetables; livestock; shrimp
Exports: $4.7 billion
(f.o.b., 1999 est.)
Exports - commodities:
bananas, shrimp, sugar, coffee
Exports - partners: US 40%, Sweden, Costa Rica, Spain, Benelux,
Honduras (1998)
Imports: $6.4 billion
(f.o.b., 1999 est.)
Imports - commodities:
capital goods, crude oil, foodstuffs, consumer goods, chemicals
Imports - partners: US 40%, Central America and Caribbean, Japan
(1998)
Debt - external: $7 billion
(1999)
Economic aid - recipient:
$197.1 million (1995)
Currency: 1 balboa (B) = 100
centesimos
Exchange rates: balboas (B)
per US$1 - 1.000 (fixed rate)
Fiscal year: calendar year
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