LatinNews Daily - 1 November 2024

*Panama’s 71-member unicameral legislature has approved the country’s 2025 budget for US$30.11bn. This is down from the US$30.69bn budget approved for 2024 but considerably more than the initial US$26.08bn 2025 budget proposed by the new right-of-centre Realizando Metas (RM) government, which is led by President José Raúl Mulino, after it had incorporated recommendations by the legislature. Finance & Economy Minister Felipe Chapman said the 2025 budget assigns 7% of GDP for education and its focus is also on health, security, and access to potable water. According to national daily Prensa, the additional funds will go mainly six ministries: education (which will receive an additional US$1.2bn compared to the initial 2025 budget proposal), economy & finance, culture, health, foreign relations, and public security, while at least 15 decentralised bodies will also receive more funds – including the state social security system Caja de Seguro Social (CSS), which President Mulino has pledged to overhaul. The budget’s approval follows recent changes to the country’s fiscal responsibility law to allow a deficit of 4.0% of GDP in 2025, up from the maximum 2.0% that was permitted under the original fiscal responsibility law introduced in 2008.