In global terms Panama ranks as a small but dynamic national market for insurers. According to the Superintendency of Insurance and Reinsurance of Panama, general insurers wrote gross premiums of $791m in 2014, 6.2% more than in 2013, while life/health insurers wrote gross premiums of $552m, up 10.8%. Total insurance penetration was 3.07% that same year, with total density at $342 per capita....
Panama’s capital markets are highly internationalised, with the financial stability of a dollarised economy helping attract global firms looking to expand their Latin American footprint. Though the country has already established itself as a regional banking hub, Panama’s non-bank financial sector still has room to grow. While insurance sector assets nearly tripled in the decade to 2013, from...
With a dollarised economy, low inflation and relative political stability, Panama remains a highly attractive regional financial centre. Recording strong performance in 2014, the country’s International Banking Centre, which contributes 7.5% to Panama’s GDP and comprises the national banking system and international banks, is well capitalised with total assets of some $111.4bn as of March 2015...
A pillar of the economy, the Panama Canal’s contribution to the national treasury exceeded $1bn in the 2014 fiscal year, while its direct contribution to GDP reached $2.7bn (6%). The canal saw 325.8m PC/UMS tonnes of cargo pass through the same year, an increase of 2% on 2013, driven primarily by the dry bulk segment, which grew by 20% year-on-year. The Panama Canal Authority estimates its...
Panama’s sustained economic growth continued in 2014, with the economy expanding by 6.2%, according to the Ministry of Economy and Finance. The figure represented a slowdown from average annual GDP growth of 7.8% over the six years to the end of 2014 – including double-digit growth in 2011 and 2012 – and was partly due to the impact of a weaker global economy, the completion of major public...
Though one of Latin America’s fastest growing economies, Panama’s political situation stands in contrast to its economic performance. The past decade has seen sustained economic growth, while institutional development struggled to keep pace. Though more than two decades of peaceful democratic transfers of power have facilitated economic development, Panama is now faced with the challenge of...
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