Panama

Explored and settled by the Spanish in the 16th century, Panama broke with Spain in 1821 and joined a union of Colombia, Ecuador, and Venezuela - named the Republic of Gran Colombia. When the latter dissolved in 1830, Panama remained part of Colombia. With US backing, Panama seceded from Colombia in 1903 and promptly signed a treaty with the US allowing for the construction of a canal and US sovereignty over a strip of land on either side of the structure (the Panama Canal Zone). The Panama Canal was built by the US Army Corps of Engineers between 1904 and 1914. In 1977, an agreement was signed for the complete transfer of the Canal from the US to Panama by the end of the century. Certain portions of the Zone and increasing responsibility over the Canal were turned over in the subsequent decades. With US help, dictator Manuel NORIEGA was deposed in 1989. The entire Panama Canal, the area supporting the Canal, and remaining US military bases were transferred to Panama by the end of 1999. In October 2006, Panamanians approved an ambitious plan (estimated to cost $5.3 billion) to expand the Canal. The project, which began in 2007 and could double the Canal's capacity, is expected to be completed in 2014-15.

Economical characteristics

 * Currency: Balboa, U.S.Dollar (ISO code: PAB, USD)
 * This country does not seem to have a central bank.
 * Central bank discount rate:
 * Commercial banks lending rate: 8.16% (31 December 2008)
 * Stock of money (M1): $3.764 billion (31 December 2008)
 * Quasi money (with M1 makes M2): $15.84 billion (31 December 2008)

Notable events:

 * Banking crisis: 1988-1989
 * Public default: 1932-1946, 1983-1996(external), 1988-1989 (domestic)

Links

 * Country profile (pdf) from the Enterprise Studies page (part of the The World Bank Group)
 * Studies from the Library of Congress (1986-1998)
 * BBC country profile
 * The Treaty That Wall Street Wrote by Murray N. Rothbard, from Inquiry (1977); reprinted in Wall Street, Banks, and American Foreign Policy (1995)


 * "Panama Has No Central Bank" by David Saied, April 2007