After five months of implementing measures to mitigate the covid-19 outbreak, the business sector in Panama is calling for the removal of unreasonable, technical and unconstitutional restrictions that are working against the success of economic and social recovery.
So far, Panama is the country that has registered the most abrupt fall in its level of economic activity in Central America, with a -41% year-on-year variation in the IMAE in May 2020.
The number of people who moved to locations identified as supermarkets or pharmacies is another data that shows that the quarantine in Panama has been one of the strictest. Reports from CentralAmericaData indicate that as of July 10, the country reported a 44% drop in the level of concentration of people in these types of establishments, compared to the levels registered in the last week of February. This reduction is the worst reported in all of Central America.
In this scenario, the Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Agriculture of Panama (CCIAP) calls for the reopening of the economy, but without bureaucratic ties or measures that do not adhere to legality and due process.
Jean-Pierre Leignadier, president of the CCIAP, said that “the continuity of restrictive measures, without logical and technical support and with signs of unconstitutionality operate against the success of economic and social recovery, and the bureaucratization of the opening of activities is a contradiction to this reactivation.”
Leignadier added that “… the country has been suffering for five months from extremely strict confinement, with little comparison to any other country in the world; parallel to an equally severe restriction of economic activities. After so many months, the only realistic option for economic recovery and job preservation is a responsible opening, where both the private and public sectors can seek a balance in health, social and economic matters. The truth is that we can’t wait any longer.”
The CCIAP statement issued on August 20 explains that “… the union considers that even though some measures to ease restrictions on mobility and the operation of economic activities have been announced, these are not enough, and have led to countless legal questions as they affect citizens’ rights.”
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