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| - Panama's economy shrunk almost 18 percent in 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic, the country's comptroller's office said on Tuesday. It was the largest GDP crash in Panama's history, beating the 13.4 percent fall from 1988. The results were significantly worse than the 11 percent drop projected by the UN Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC.) The fall "was due to the performance of activities that were affected by the emergence of the pandemic" in March 2020, said the comptroller's office in a statement, adding that the problems lasted nine months. Lockdown measures forced some industries to shut down entirely for an indefinite period. The worst affected sectors were construction, commerce, hotels, restaurants, business services, industry, education and financial mediation. Conversely, some activities were boosted by the pandemic with the number of health care workers increasing. Production of rice and corn were also higher. ECLAC expects Panama's economy to grow by 5.5 percent in 2021. mav/mr/bc/st
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