Economist and academic Olmedo Estrada warned that despite the recent minimum wage adjustment, workers' incomes in Panama remain well below the real cost of living. At the same time, he projected that 2026 could mark a stage of strong economic recovery, with growth over 5%, a reduction in unemployment, and a greater attraction of national and private foreign investment. Estrada explained that the country will close 2025 with a growth of approximately 4% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), although he acknowledged that this result was limited by the closures, paralyzations, and strikes that occurred during the year, which, according to his calculations, caused a loss of between 1.5 and 2 percentage points of economic growth. «If Panama had worked without paralyzations, we would be talking about growth between 5% and 5.5%. A serious internal conflict is generated within the companies,» he warned. Finally, Estrada called for maintaining social dialogue and avoiding unnecessary strikes, betting on negotiation as a way to achieve sustainable benefits for both workers and employers. «The worker is the most valuable asset of any company,» he emphasized. Although the official figures have not yet been published, he estimated that the national unemployment rate is currently between 10% and 11%, accompanied by high levels of informality. «Companies have not been able to pay bonuses or incentives because the economy has not fully recovered. This ends up reflecting in stagnant wages and increasingly precarious employment,» he stated. Estrada underlined that the economic growth recorded in 2025 failed to reduce unemployment because it was concentrated in sectors that generate few jobs, which forces redirecting public policy towards labor-intensive activities. 2026: Investment, Employment, and Strategic Sectors. Looking ahead to 2026, the economist was optimistic and projected a «very robust» economy with growth above 5%, as long as social and productive stability conditions are not altered. He indicated that the national budget contemplates more than 11 billion dollars in public investment, which will revitalize sectors such as commerce, banking, construction, mortgages, and financial services. However, he warned that the real impact will be achieved if this public investment is complemented by a strong injection of foreign capital. «When investment is made, all sectors benefit. The economy had a healthy trajectory, but the months of closures affected key sectors like construction and banana activity, which practically stopped,» he pointed out. Double-digit unemployment and a blow to wages. The economist alerted that one of the most serious effects of these interruptions was the direct impact on employment. «We need to attract private investments similar to or close to what the State will invest to lower unemployment and reduce informality,» he affirmed. Among the sectors with the greatest potential to generate employment, he mentioned mining, the reactivation of the banana industry, marine industries, the assembly of cars and boats, and the development of industries linked to marine products in provinces like Chiriquí, Colón, and Panama. Minimum Wage: Insufficient Increase. Regarding the recent minimum wage adjustment, Estrada considered that the increases of between 12 and 15 dollars are insufficient in the face of the country's inflation, although he acknowledged that they were the product of an agreement between workers and employers. «It is not enough to cover the needs of a family, but an agreement was reached because the real conditions of the companies, especially micro, small, and medium-sized ones, which represent 95% of the country's business fabric, were evaluated,» he explained. In this sense, he qualified as «totally out of reality» the proposal to set a minimum wage close to 1,900 dollars, warning that a measure of this type would cause the massive closure of companies and a domino effect on professional wages. «If the minimum wage is set at 1,900 dollars, what happens to the professionals who today earn between 900 and 1,500 dollars?»
