In the first semester of this year, the Panamanian government paid $30 million more in interest payments on the public debt than the amount paid in the same period last year.

According to official figures between the first six months of 2018 and the same period in 2017, the costs of the debt increased by 6%, rising from $537 million to $567 million.

In line with the behavior of costs, during the first half of the year the country’s public debt grew by 3.6%, rising from $23.384 billion in January to $24.233 billion at the end of June.

Projections of government revenues to meet their obligations depend on the performance of the economy, in this regard Olmedo Estrada, president of the College of Economists of Panama, told Prensa.com that ” … in a more deteriorated economic environment, revenues can decrease putting more pressure on public accounts to cope with the expenses generated by the debt.“

In relation to the options to reduce the costs of the debt, Estrada explained that ” … the strategy should be different. ‘The alternative is to put the breaks on the debt. The government has to make an effort to save money by eliminating unproductive activities.’“

See details of the debt figures.