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By Tim Rogers
PANAMA CITY, Panama – After Several years of explosive economic growth, Panama is starting to show signs of wear from the world economic crisis.
The economy, which was growing at near double-digit rates a year ago, registered a more modest 2.5 percent growth rate for the first quarter of 2009, according to government figures released last week.
Leaders of the real-estate development sector, which has powered the country's economic expansion for the past five years by producing more than $1 billion in new construction annually, now predict as many as 60,000 workers could be out of a job by the end of the year.
But Panama isn't panicking. In fact, thanks to its solid banking system, geographical position and perhaps a dose of good luck, Panama expects to ride out the crisis better than its neighbors and come out the back end of the storm stronger than it went in.