After receiving in 2019 a government with a deficit of B /. 3,937 million and spending the last 18 months with the worst health and economic crisis in the history of the country as a result of Covid-19, the Ministry of Economy and Finance (MEF), led by Minister Héctor Alexander, has emphasized its efforts in the development of human capital, the reactivation of the economy, the improvement of productivity, as well as the increase in employment and income of the population.
The strategy to address the health crisis was based on obtaining financial resources to guarantee Panamanians the growing demand for medical services.
In fiscal 2021, the MEF consigned to the Health System to combat the pandemic, B /. 99.6 million; to the Ministry of Health, B /. 1,414.2 million; to the Gorgas Memorial Institute, B /. 21.5 million and to the Social Security Fund, B /. 1,869.1 million, totaling an investment of B /. 3,404.4 million.
Economic, social and financial crisis
The National Government implemented a strategy that gave continuity to the countercyclical fiscal policy, the objective of which is to make growth as stable as possible and the economic crisis as short and less severe for the population. The main goal of the MEF was to secure public resources, give strength to economic reactivation, ensure the sustainability of social programs and thus safeguard the life and health of Panamanians.
The countercyclical policy has allowed maintaining all the subsidies to households, companies and the Social Security Fund that were contemplated in the 2020 Nation Budget, for the sum of B /. 1,651 million and allocate additional resources to subsidize electricity (COVID-19), as well as economic support to the affected population, through the Panama Solidario Plan. In total, B /. 2,833 million in subsidy in 2020.
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