LatinNews Daily - 17 December 2024

*Panama’s comptroller general’s office has released new figures showing that the country’s GDP posted growth of 2.1% in the first nine months of 2024 compared with the same period in 2023. The comptroller general’s office attributes the increase to components related with the domestic economy such as retail and wholesale trade, with sales of marine fuel posting 11.2% growth; food & drink up 2.0%; car sales up 13.0%; construction of infrastructure growing 14.8%; and financial services up 7.2%, among other activities. The comptroller general’s office also highlights as growth drivers, operations at the Panama Canal which posted a 6.5% rise in tolls; a 15.7% rise in movement of TEU (20-foot equivalent unit) containers; a 15.2% rise in re-exports at the Colón Free Zone; and exports of bananas and fish which were up 3.0% and 29.4% respectively. However, it notes that the closure of the Cobre Panamá copper mine, which was shut last year amid major unrest over the renewal of a new contract, halted the country’s general economic development. The comptroller general’s office also registered declines in the sectors of telecommunications (-4.4%); thermal energy generation (-34.7%); and the slaughter of cattle and swine (-2.4%) and (-7.3%), respectively.