% in 1996. Although tourism and the
Panama Canal posted growth in 1996, most sectors remained stagnant,
and some, like the Colon Free Zone, banana and shrimp exports, and
construction, were down from 1995. Although the PEREZ BALLADARES
administration has advanced an economic reform program designed to
liberalize the trade regime, attract foreign investment, privatize
state-owned enterprises, institute fiscal reform, and encourage
job-creation through labor code reform, the positive effects of this
program have not yet been felt at the macroeconomic level. In 1996,
the government concluded a Brady-type plan to restructure the
country's commercial debt - one of the highest in the world in per
capita terms - allowing it to reenter international financial markets.
Panama also completed all requirements to join the World Trade
Organization (WTrO) and is awaiting legislative ratification to become
a full member.

GDP: purchasing power parity - $14 billion (1996 est.)

GDP - real growth rate: 1.5% (1996 est.)

GDP - per capita: purchasing power parity - $5,300 (1996 est.)

GDP - composition by sector:
agriculture: 10%
industry : 16%
services: 74% (1995 est.)

Inflation rate - consumer price index: 1.3% (1996 est.)

Labor force:
total : 1.015 million (1996 est.)
by occupation: government and community services 31.8%, agriculture,
hunting, and fishing 26.8%, commerce, restaurants, and hotels 16.4%,
manufacturing and mining 9.4%, construction 3.2%, transportation and
communications 6.2%, finance, insurance, and real estate 4.3%
note: shortage of skilled labor, but an oversupply of unskilled labor

Unemployment rate: 14% (1996 est.)

Budget:
revenues : $1.86 billion
expenditures: $1.86 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA
(1995)

Industries: construction, petroleum refining, brewing, cement and
other construction materials, sugar milling

Industrial production growth rate: 0.4% (1995 est.)

Electricity - capacity: 1.1405 billion kW (1995)

Electricity - production: 3.519 billion kWh (1995)

Electricity - consumption per capita: 1,069 kWh (1995 est.)

Agriculture - products: bananas, rice, corn, coffee, sugarcane,
vegetables; livestock; fishing (shrimp)

Exports:
total value: $570 million (f.o.b., 1996 est.)
commodities: bananas 43%, shrimp 11%, sugar 4%, clothing 5%, coffee 2%
partners: US 39%, EU, Central America and Caribbean

Imports:
total value: $2.512 billion (c.i.f., 1996 est.)
commodit