For whoever wins the elections on May 3, the main challenge will be to maintain the economic growth that has averaged 8% annually in recent years.
Both the PRD (the Democratic Revolutionary Party, plus the Liberal Party and the People's Party) and Alianza para el Cambio (Democratic Change, the Patriotic Union, the Panamanian Party and Molirena), propose the continuation of the current macro-economic direction of the country, giving continuity to many of the programs conducted by the government of Martín Torrijos.
The Economist’s Unit of Economic Intelligence revised its growth estimate which was at 3.4% for 2009 downward, fixing it at minus 1.4%.
The forecast for 2010 is a slight recovery of 1.4% over 2009. The report also predicts victory in the upcoming presidential elections for opposition candidate Ricardo Martinelli.
With regard to this report, the Ministry of Finance signaled that it had possibly "(not taken) into account the financial incentive program recently announced by President Martín Torrijos.”
The results of the elections could marginally change a lot of things but they cannot significantly alter the direction of the country.
The country of the Canal has been the Central American powerboat in the last few years. High figures in sustained economic growth has caught the attention of the world, and with the upcoming electoral campaign, international analysts see the reasons for the Panamanian bonanza "as a successful conjunction of politics, governmental decisions, and stability in regulations."
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