Panama's budget deficit widens amid heavy spending on works to keep pace with growth

Panama's budget deficit widened to the equivalent of 2.3 percent of the country's gross domestic product in 2011, the country's finance minister, Frank De Lima, said yesterday.

Panama's third consecutive budget deficit comes amid heavy infrastructure spending, as the fast-growing nation rushes to improve streets and highways and build a $1.8 billion subway in the capital.

Panama's economy topped Latin America with an estimated 10.5 percent GDP expansion in 2011, continuing a trend that began in the middle of the last decade.

Source: Reuters