A tax of $3.78 per gallon of fuel blended with imported ethanol has been proposed to protect local sugarcane-based production.
The plan was presented to Congress by Omar Castillo, Deputy Economy Minister who proposes to protect the domestic alcohol industry by "... establishing that the imported items can be only used in beauty products, nail polish and all products containing these products and that it can not be used for fuel production," reported Prensa.com.
A draft law proposes amending the Tax Code to set a tax of 10 cents per gallon on the fuel used by aircraft.
The project was presented to Congress by the Minister in charge of Economy and Finance, Omar Castillo, who justified the proposal by noting that since the establishment of the excise tax on fuel products, jet fuel has remained exempt from any tax.
Financing has been obtained for two water projects for indigenous populations.
Prensa.com reports that "The Ministry of Finance yesterday approved two projects for nonreimbursable financing agreements, known as donations or direct subsidies, with two international organizations to provide new water systems for indigenous regions. The total amount of these grants will be $14.2 million, as reported yesterday by Deputy Economy Minister Omar Castillo.
The measure seeks to prevent a rise in electricity rates for those who consume less than 300 kilowatts.
According to a statement from the Assembly of Panama, the resources will be used to strengthen the Energy Compensation Fund and to cover cost overruns generated by distribution companies.
"The goal of compensating electricity distribution companies for the amounts that they no longer perceive due to the stabilization of electricity rates for regulated customers, is to make payments to the electricity generating companies with mixed capital stock, so that electricity rates for end users do not increase sharply over the coming years, due to changes in petroleum products", said Omar Castillo, Deputy Minister of Economy and Finance.
The Ministry of Economy submitted to the Assembly a draft law creating a system of Public-Private Partnership (APP in Spanish).
The APP is an alternative to the execution of works or public services that have traditionally been carried out by the state.
The scheme works by making contracts between the public and private sector, in which the latter constructs, finances, operates and maintains infrastructure or provide services.