Latin Business Chronicle - The delay in holding a U.S. congressional vote on the Colombia free trade agreement has also delayed the Panama free trade agreement, experts say. "It’s unlikely...that the Panama agreement would be moved ahead of the Colombia agreement," says Eric Farnsworth, vice president of the Council of the Americas. "The fate of the Panama agreement is now tied to the Colombia agreement, though there is nothing that says the two cannot move forward together." (more)

By DON WINNER for Panama-Guide.com - Today Law 21 of 15 April 2008 was published in the "Official Gazette", and specifies a change to Article 81 of Law 6 of 2005, saying "Those improvements whose construction permits were issued before 1 July 2009 will enjoy twenty years exoneration from Property Tax, as long as the improvements are inscribed in the Public Registry before 31 December 2011. The exonerations granted by this article will be conceded upon the date of inscription (in the Public Registry) or the issuance of the occupancy permit, which ever comes first." So, with that the very popular 20 year tax exoneration has been extended, yet again. Good news for anyone looking to buy property in Panama. Wanna buy a condo? Credit for spotting this goes to Juan Ramón Vallarino J..

Copyright 2008 by Don Winner for Panama-Guide.com. Go ahead and use whatever you like as long as you credit the source. Salud.

Latin Business Chronicle - Panama will continue to have Latin America's highest economic growth, while Mexico will have the lowest, according to a Latin Business Chronicle analysis of new data from the International Monetary Fund (IMF). All in all, Latin America is expected to increase its GDP this year by 4.4 percent, the fund said in its latest World Economic Outlook released last week. That's a slight revision upwards from the 4.3 percent GDP growth the IMF had forecast earlier. It's also better than the IMF's forecast for global growth (3.7 percent) and economic growth in the United States (0.5 percent), the European Union (1.8 percent) and newly industrialized Asian economies (3.9 percent). However, Latin America will lag areas like developing Asia, Africa, the Middle East and the Commonwealth of Independent States when it comes to GDP growth this year. (more)

ustreas.gov - Remarks by Secretary Henry M. Paulson, Jr. at the Inaugural Session of the Inter-American Development Bank Annual Meeting - It is an honor to receive the Chairman's gavel on behalf of the United States of America. It is most appropriate that we are here in Miami, a city which is rightly known as the U.S. gateway to Latin America. Thank you, Minister Fuentes and the government of Guatemala, for your leadership of the Inter-American Development Bank this past year. And thank you President Moreno for making the Bank more nimble and effective in creating economic opportunity and reducing poverty throughout the Western Hemisphere. We believe that we should measure success by demonstrable results that show the IDB's operations are building and strengthening foundations for sustainable and widespread economic growth in the region. (more)

PANAMA CITY, March 26 (Reuters) - Panama's economic activity rose 10.21 percent in January over the year-ago period, the government said on Wednesday, driven by growth in transport and commerce. (Reporting by Jason Lange and Andrew Beatty)

La Critica - The Executive Cabinet approved yesterday the law introducing modifications to tax law, increasing exoneration on Income Taxes to those who earn as much as $860 per month as well as increasing the preferential loan rate for mortgages from $62,500 to $80,000 thousand dollars. It is estimated approximately 40,000 wage earners will benefit. In 2009 the income tax exoneration will be increased to $2,500 per month. Last year the Panamanian government received more than $860 million dollars from income tax collections and this year they are expected to reach $927 million. Currently about 125,000 people pay income taxes. The bill approved yesterday by the cabinet also includes a subsidy for houses worth up to $30,000 dollars, whose owners at the time of purchase will not have to pay interest because with this new law the government will pay.

By DON WINNER for Panama-Guide.com - For the first time in decades bananas are not the #1 export in Panama. In 2007 Panama exported more than $115 million dollars worth of melons according to numbers recently released by the Nation's Comptroller, pushing the $111 million dollars worth of bananas to the #2 position. So I guess that means we are now officially living in a "Melon Republic." Well, we already knew that, didn't we? But seriously folks, I remember just a few years ago when melon production for export started up in a big way, so this is a new and growing trend. Banana production and export was hit last year due to the efforts to get Chiquita Banana out of Panama (after more than 90 years.) So, Melons - big and getting bigger. It's all good...

Copyright 2008 by Don Winner for Panama-Guide.com. Go ahead and use whatever you like as long as you credit the source. Salud.

By DON WINNER for Panama-Guide.com - I'm going fishing. Also known as CICWorks.com, the Caribbean Investment Club might be having some significant problems. This is another one of those deals in which the "club" managers offer good or great returns and offshore "protection" for their investors, all done through the Internet. I'm trying to get into contact with people who have money invested with the Caribbean Investment Club and CICWorks.com, so if you've got money in there please send me an email. Please email this article around if you think you might know someone as well. Thanks.

Copyright 2008 by Don Winner for Panama-Guide.com. Go ahead and use whatever you like as long as you credit the source. Salud.

Cayman Net News - Regulators in Panama has given the green light for Cayman National Bank Ltd to establish a Representative Office in that Central American country, one year after the process started. The green light from the Panamanian authorities came two weeks ago. The Representative Office will serve as a point of introduction to the products and services offered by the other Cayman National subsidiaries in the Cayman Islands and also the Isle of Man. Cayman National will also be in a position to facilitate Caymanian business owners desiring to trade with or invest in Panama and will use its presence in Panama to better leverage this offering, the local financial institution said. (more)