Panama’s Resilience Amidst Latin America’s Economic Challenges
Latin America has encountered one of its most lackluster growth periods since the turbulent “lost decade” of the 1980s, with a mere 0.9% growth rate recorded between 2015 and 2024. José Manuel Salazar-Xirinachs, the Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), warns that the region risks entering a third decade of stagnation unless significant structural reforms are implemented. Within this context, Panama emerges as a notable case study. Despite ECLAC revising its growth projections downward to 1.8% for 2024 due to global uncertainties and the slowdown of major economies like the US and China,…