Weekly Report - 22 September 2011 (WR-11-38)

PANAMA | Growth. Panama registered real GDP growth of 10.3% in the first six months of 2011, according to a report released on 15 September by the national statistics institute (Inec). The Inec put Panama’s nominal GDP in the first half of 2011 at US$11.28bn, up from US$10.23bn a year earlier. In output terms, the first half result was driven by the construction sector, where activity was up 17.3% year-on-year, and mining (up 16.5%). Activity in the Colón Free Trade Zone registered an increase of 15.1%, with Canal operations up 11.4%, port services up 22.3% and air transport up 21.9%. A recent report by the UN Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (Eclac) forecast that Panama would register GDP growth for 2011 of 8.5%, compared with the regional average of 4.7%. Meanwhile, the national customs authority (ANA) reported a 32.56% increase in customs revenues year-on-year to US$799.84m in the first half of 2011 - much of that increase was attributed to growing trade levels through the Canal, especially between South America and Asia. The ANA expects to receive US$1.3m in revenues by the end of the year.

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