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Panama Government Rules Out Price Controls, Focuses on Market Efficiency
🇵🇦 Panama /Economy & Trade

Panama Government Rules Out Price Controls, Focuses on Market Efficiency

From TVN Panamá · () Spanish

Translated from Spanish, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

News Named sources New plan
  • Panama's government will not reinstate price controls on basic goods, deeming them a market distortion.
  • The administration plans to focus on improving efficiency in the supply chain from producers to consumers.
  • The "Panamá Pa’ Ti" program prioritizes employment, water, health, and the basic food basket, with specific initiatives for each pillar.

Panama's government has firmly ruled out a return to regulated prices for essential goods, with officials stating such measures distort the market. Instead, the administration is focusing on enhancing the efficiency of the supply chain, aiming to streamline the journey of products from producers to consumers.

The truth is that it is a quite ambitious plan, but one that Panama deserves.

— Ramón AbadíRamón Abadí described the government's 'Panamá Pa’ Ti' program.

Ramón Abadí, director of the Authority for Consumer Protection and Defense of Competition (Acodeco), outlined the government's strategy under the "Panamá Pa’ Ti" program. This initiative is built on four key pillars: employment, water, health, and the basic food basket. Abadí described the plan as "quite ambitious, but one that Panama deserves."

Totally ruled out. Regulated prices are a distortion of the market.

— Ramón AbadíRamón Abadí stated the government's position on price controls.

Abadí was unequivocal about rejecting price controls, calling them "a distortion of the market." He noted that while they might serve as a temporary emergency measure, their prolonged use, as seen in Panama for over a decade, proved "disastrous." The government's focus will be on improving the logistics of transporting agricultural products to consumers' tables.

We are strongly recommending to the government that it must lower the indices of how to make the transport of products from the agricultural sector to the Panamanian's table more efficient.

— Ramón AbadíRamón Abadí discussed the need for greater efficiency in the agricultural supply chain.

Regarding the basic food basket, Abadí reported it costs $303 in supermarkets and $356.06 in smaller convenience stores. The "Panamá Pa’ Ti" program also addresses employment, citing 77,000 private sector jobs created last year and over 17,000 in the first half of this year. The expansion of the Colón Free Zone is expected to generate 2,000 jobs, alongside over 360 public works projects. In healthcare, the plan aims to make 140 discounted medications available in 500 pharmacies nationwide. Water infrastructure, particularly the eastern belt of Panama and purification plants in the interior, is also a priority.

Are we ambitious? Yes.

— Ramón AbadíRamón Abadí acknowledged the demanding timelines for the government's program.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by TVN Panamá in Spanish. Translated, summarized, and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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