Mulino: Panama will demonstrate its responsible management of public funds

In his first weekly conference with the media, the President of the Republic, José Raúl Mulino, announced that his government is working on a General State Budget project for the fiscal year 2025 that will show the world that it has the political commitment and economical way of managing public funds with order and responsibility.

“When the fiscal adjustment plan is announced, the country and the world will understand that in Panama there is once again control of public finances, cleaning up the old, but focusing on the future,” the president highlighted in an open dialogue with journalists from local media. and foreign correspondents.

President Mulino clarified that the public spending containment plan that the Ministry of Economy and Finance (MEF) is preparing involves cuts exclusively in operating expenses, not in investment.

In this sense, he announced that he has appointed presidential advisor Miguel Antonio Bernal as coordinator of a commission that will be in charge of defining the ideal size of the government that the Panamanian State needs.

He added that it will also prepare the way towards a reform of the State, through a Constituent Assembly. This process will be gradual, with extensive consultations with citizens and the different economic sectors and unions of the country.

The country will not allow itself to be pressured by demands

The issue of what to do with the Donoso mine - whose contract with the Panamanian State was declared unconstitutional by a ruling by the Supreme Court of Justice - will be a priority on the government's agenda for the year 2025, anticipated President Mulino who, at the same time , established its position in the face of international demands for the closure of this multimillion-dollar operation.

“In order for me to sit down with government representatives to talk with creditors, with bankers or with everyone together, all these processes have to be suspended,” the president emphasized. “Panama is not going to go with a gun to its head and sit down and fix any problem.”

“I'm not going to have formal meetings with anyone yet. I have given approval to ministers to speak. But things are going to come where the Panamanian government says they are going to come,” he reiterated.

He also maintained that he has worked hard to turn around the heated and tense atmosphere that remained in the country after the closure of the Donoso mine, with a high perception of lack of legal security. The president said he is confident that his administration is creating a new climate that will be evaluated positively by risk rating agencies.