Panama announces austerity plan and low budget for 2020
The budget proposed by the government of Panama for 2020 is lower than the previous one, an unprecedented situation in a country that, faced with the austerity in which it lives, struggles to recover the pace of economic growth
After the inauguration of the president, Laurentino Cortizo, who assumed power on July 1st for the period 2019-2024, it was announced the implementation of a plan to combat poverty in 300 of the 671 districts of the country, framed in his austerity program with efficiency, as established by the Panamanian head of state.
The economists Rolando Gordón, former Dean of the Faculty of Economics of the State University of Panama, and the analyst Adolfo Quintero, assured that it is the first time, after the fall of the dictatorship that a national budget falls below that of the previous year.
However, for the analyst Quintero, the budget approved for 2020 is realistic and in his opinion the public accounts after the previous Administration of Juan Carlos Varela (2014-2019) “manipulated the revenue expectation of 2019 in order to increase Expenses”.
On the other hand, the former university dean considers the budget cuts will prevent the State from “playing this year and the other (2020) the corresponding role in fiscal policy to impulse the economy” to the expected level of growth of 5% or more, necessary to stimulate the labor field and reduce the unemployment rate located at 6.4%.
Panama closed 2018 with a Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth of 3.7% and for this year the International Monetary Fund (IMF) reduced the growth forecast from 6% to 5% due to the weakening of the construction sectors And the services.
K.Villarroel
Fuente: bancaynegocios