LatinNews Daily - 30 September 2022

*Panama’s leading private sector lobby Cámara de Comercio, Industrias y Agricultura de Panamá (CCIAP) has highlighted that job creation is a matter of “national urgency” and called on the government led by President Laurentino Cortizo to “re-evaluate and take measures that don’t exert more pressure on public finances” – no doubt a reference to the recent measures taken by the government such as energy subsidies aimed at quelling the recent unrest over rising living costs. CCIAP’s call comes as the labour minister, Alfredo Mitre, was cited by the local press on 28 September as saying that unemployment was 9.9% and is expected to continue dropping. Panama’s GDP contracted by 17.9% in 2020 – the largest contraction in Central America although this rebounded to 15.3% in 2021. The latest (23 August) forecast from the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (Eclac) expects Panama’s GDP to grow 7.0% in 2022, the highest in Central America and well above the 2.7% average forecast for Latin America & the Caribbean.

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