Economic and Financial Reform in Panama: Challenges and Opportunities to 2025

Abstract

This paper begins with a brief review of Panama’s vital statistics and some past and recent economic and political highlights. Panama, a small tropical country located in a politically and economically challenged region, is poised to assume a larger and more prominent role in the 21st-century global economy because of its strategic position between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. Using a well-known framework to assess the performance of a national economy within the context of the wider global economy, I identify the strengths and weaknesses of the Panamanian economy, that, in turn, need to be exploited or addressed to the end of enhancing the performance of the economy and future living standards.