In 2020, Panama was the first country in the region to issue a sovereign debt since the start of the Covid-19 crisis.
The pandemic in our country caused a collapse in current income, while the Government chose to maintain high public spending.
This resulted in a sharp deterioration in public finances in the form of huge fiscal deficits and a substantial increase in debt, a situation that is still being felt.
In 2020, Panama was the first country in the region to issue a sovereign debt since the start of the Covid-19 crisis. Since then, issues and loans with different organizations have followed one another, increasing the debt more and more.
As of March 31, 2020, before the country received the funds from that first issue, the balance of the non-financial public sector debt was $29,845.2 million, while at the end of March this year, that is, two years later, the commitments of the non-financial public sector amount to $42,812.8 million. This is an increase of $12,967.6 million.