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04 Mar 2024
Panama: Staff Concluding Statement of the 2024 Article IV Mission
In the two decades preceding the pandemic, Panama advanced in income convergence, with Panama’s income ratio to the US increasing from thirty-three to forty-eight percent. Rapid growth was driven by an unprecedented construction and investment boom that included major construction projects, such as the enlargement of the Panama Canal and the Tocumen airport, and the expansion of the services and logistics sectors that benefited from those projects. From the supply side, convergence was in large part supported by a sharp increase in the employment to population rate. This was the result of a demographic transition, an increase in female labor force participation, and a significant drop in unemployment.
