The economist and labor market consultant, René Quevedo, analyzed the ECLAC report that improved its growth forecast for Latin America to 2.7% from the previously estimated 1.8%, despite a very complex scenario of slowdown and inflation, which will deepen in the second half of the year, asserting that our problem is not growth but job creation.
He recalled that Panama had the fourth worst economic contraction in the world in 2020, of almost 18%, and has already recovered 15.3% last year, reaching pre-pandemic levels.
Although the aforementioned percentage has been recovered, Quevedo affirmed that the country’s economy is not generating new jobs because there is no confidence in the climate for investment in Panama. “Our great challenge is employment, that is an aggravating factor in this social crisis,” he said.
The expert stressed that without private investment there will never be formal employment generation.
“The threats of street closures, in a country where 70% of jobs are face-to-face, generate unemployment. The restriction of mobility in Panama generates unemployment. We are somehow fighting for the chairs in the Titanic’s dining room. We have to put ourselves agree and send a clear message to the international community. The issue of foreign investment is of concern,” concluded Quevedo.
