Until
the political crisis of the end of the Eighties, Panama had
a rather prosperous economy based on agriculture, light industry,
the sector of the services and the outputs of Panama Canal.
Half of the surface of the country is devoted to agriculture.
The principal cultures which are used for export are: the
cane with sugar, coffee and the banana. There are also great
harvests of rice, corn and beans for the consumption of the
country. The sector of the breeding is also developing quickly.
Panama has great reserves of mahogany tree, in more of the
fishing preserves especially of shrimps. Principal industries
are those of the transformation of food, of the clothes industry
of clothing, the paper and building materials. Panama exports
refined oil. The other strong points of the economy are the
zones of free trade around the channel, especially that of
Colón, and the facilities to excavate the boats which
have false Panamanian flags. The incomes thanks to the transit
in the channel, the incomes obtained thanks to tourism and
the benefit produced by the Panamanian Secret Bank, supplement
the economic panorama of the country. The Government began
at the beginning of the Nineties processes of rationalization
of the economy which includes the privatization of the old
public companies and the reduction of the public expenditure
on the level of the social security. Panama is member of the
Inter-American Bank of Development and its principal trade
partners are the United States, Japan, Spain, Costa Rica and
Germany.
