The Consumer Price Index (CPI) registered a year-on-year increase of 2.7% in February, reported the National Institute of Statistics and Census (Inec).
The main responsible for the increase is the transport group, with a year-on-year increase of 10%, which includes the price of fuel. Education, hotels and restaurants and food are other groups that registered increases.
The general increase in prices has a direct effect on the pockets of consumers and companies.
The president of the Union of Industrialists of Panama, Luis Frauca, told the newspaper La Prensa that the purchasing power of the population is reduced, which restricts consumption and limits the capacity for recovery and job creation of an economy that is trying to shake off the strong economic crisis caused by the restrictions imposed during the pandemic.
The businessman stated that several causes have come together that have affected the rise in prices: higher prices for raw materials, limitations in production, higher freight rates and higher fuel prices.
The Russian invasion of Ukraine and the rebound of the Covid-19 in China increase the pressure on prices and suggest, according to the businessman, that the trend will continue in the coming months.
