Macroeconomic Forecast Panama

October 2006 | Macroeconomic Forecasts

BMI View: In June, Panama's foreign reserves stockpile (excluding gold holdings) reached US$1.27bn, the highest level since mid-2003. Reserves increased sharply between April and June - by US$104.8mn, or 8.9% - and we think that they should continue to accumulate at a steady pace. For one thing, the H206 capital account figures should be bolstered by HSBC 's US$1.8bn purchase of Panama's Grupo Banistmo in July. As a result, we have raised our year-end international reserves forecasts for 2006 (to US$1.4bn from US$900mn) and 2007 (to US$1.5bn from US$900mn).

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