Reuters reports that Panama’s economy expanded 6.3 percent during the second quarter of this year compared with the same period last year, the government said on Monday.

Central America’s largest economy saw gains in mining, construction, retail and transport sectors during the April-June period.

Meanwhile, electricity output and agriculture sector activity fell during the second quarter.

The government said economic growth through the first half of the year reached 6.2 percent and it expects 7 percent growth by the end of the year.

Growth during the first quarter was the slowest rate recorded since 2009, when the economy grew at a 4 percent annual rate in the aftermath of the global credit crisis.

Economic growth has been cooling in Panama after $15 billion of infrastructure projects helped lift economic growth to one of the fastest rates in Latin America in recent years.

Over the past five years, annual growth has averaged 8.5 percent. (Reporting by Elida Moreno; Writing by David Alire Garcia; Editing by Ken Wills)