Panama Needs Trust and Fiscal Discipline to Protect Its Economic Future

The Panamanian Association of Business Executives (Apede) warns that Panama needs trust, fiscal discipline, and consensus to protect its economic future. According to the guild, the recent reaffirmation, but with warning signals, of our risk ratings by Moody's and S&P, along with the previous downgrade by Fitch, are a direct call to all Panamanians to strengthen the country's governance, institutional framework, and fiscal responsibility. Apede emphasizes that to strengthen trust in Panama, political, institutional, social, and business consensus is needed. The world and investors are watching Panama, and this region faces increasingly fierce competition to attract capital, talent, and opportunities. "If Panama takes advantage of this process with technical rigor and political will, it can, although it may take many years, turn it into an engine of reforms that strengthen its fiscal and institutional credibility, and with it, its position in the markets," the statement reads. Apede highlights that the recent government announcement to begin the accession process to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) is particularly relevant. The guild's standards coincide with the elements that rating agencies consider essential for maintaining the investment grade. In short, strengthening the institutional framework, as an indispensable condition to protect the most vulnerable and to ensure that the country can invest in education, health, infrastructure, and pensions in the long term, is what Apede is advocating for. "We must be clear that this is a collective effort, a government that executes, and a citizenship that demands and complies with its obligations," states Apede. They add that the interest rates paid on loans, the credits granted to companies, the costs of state financing, and, therefore, the greater availability of funds for public services—for example, the stability of the financial system, the arrival or not of foreign investment, and the country's ability to sustain employment, growth, and competitiveness—depend on it. "Protecting the investment grade, improving our country risk, reinforcing legal security, and ensuring institutional stability must be national priorities, not partisan flags," emphasizes Apede. In short, strengthening the institutional framework, as an indispensable condition to protect the most vulnerable and to ensure that the country can invest in education, health, infrastructure, and pensions in the long term, is what is being defended from Apede. According to the guild, the rating agencies have been categorical in their recommendations: reduce the deficit, correct spending rigidities, increase revenue collection, strengthen fiscal transparency, and guarantee legal stability and combat corruption. Economic stability is not decreed; it is built with dialogue, evidence, and responsible decisions.