巴拿马国有企业

State-Owned Enterprisesin Panama Wim Fonteyne SIP/2025/124 IMF Selected Issues Papers are prepared by IMF staff asbackground documentation for periodic consultations withmember countries.It is based on the information available atthe time it was completed on July 9, 2025. This paper is alsopublished separately as IMF Country Report No 25/246. 2025SEP IMF Selected Issues Paper Western Hemisphere Department State-Owned Enterprises in PanamaPrepared by Wim Fonteyne Authorized for distribution by Bas BakkerSeptember2025 IMF Selected Issues Papersare prepared by IMF staff as background documentation for periodicconsultations with member countries.It is based on the information available at the time it wascompleted on July 9, 2025. This paper is also published separately as IMF Country Report No 25/246. ABSTRACT:Panama has a significant and diverse state-owned enterprise (SOE) sector, comprising 16 non-financial enterprises, 5 financial institutions, and the Panama Canal Authority (ACP). The ACP operates undera specific legal and budgetary framework that ensures its institutional autonomy, which has been key to itssuccess. The other SOEs operate under a different legal framework and have seen mixed performance.Drawing lessons from the success of the ACP, greater independence in their governance, finances andoperations, coupled with increased transparency and more effective oversight, would likely help improve theirfinancial performance as well as the quality of the services they provide. RECOMMENDED CITATION:Fonteyne, Wim, 2025. State-Owned Enterprises in Panama. IMF SelectedIssues Paper 2025/124. State-Owned Enterprisesin Panama Prepared by Wim Fonteyne PANAMA SELECTED ISSUES ApprovedByWestern HemisphereDepartment Prepared By Wim Fonteyne,withanalytical support from Natalia Martinez-Camelo. STATE-OWNED ENTERPRISES IN PANAMA ______________________________________3 A. Introduction _____________________________________________________________________3B. Panama Canal Authority _________________________________________________________4C. Governance of Other State-Owned Enterprises __________________________________5D. Relationship with the Government Budget_______________________________________6E. Reporting and Accountability ____________________________________________________7F. Financial Performance ____________________________________________________________7G. Analysis of Differences Between the ACP and other State-Owned Enterprises ___9H. Privatization ____________________________________________________________________10I. Conclusions______________________________________________________________________10 FIGURE 1. Revenue and Profit for State-Owned Enterprises (2014-2023)____________________8 References_________________________________________________________________________12 ANNEXES I. List of State-Owned Enterprises__________________________________________________13II. Findings of 2021 OECD Assessment_____________________________________________17III. IGCP’S TOP Features of Panamanian State-Owned Enterprises _________________19 STATE-OWNED ENTERPRISES IN PANAMA A.Introduction 1.Panama has a significant state-owned enterprise (SOE) sector. The sector comprises 16non-financial enterprises and 8 financial institutions (see Annex I) that are fully owned by the state.The latter include three financial sector regulators (the superintendencies for banking, insurance andsecurities markets), which have no commercial activities and do not engage in financialintermediation. These regulators are outside the scope of this paper. Panama’s largest SOE, thePanama Canal Authority (Autoridad del Canal de Panamá, ACP), operates under a specific legal andbudgetary framework. It is not among the forementioned 16 non-financial enterprises but will beconsidered here. All these entities are consolidated in the general government budget, but only asubset of them is part of the non-financial public sector (NFPS) for budget purposes. In addition tothese fully-owned entities, Panama holds equity stakes, including majority holdings, in otherenterprises, such as AES Panama and Panama Petroterminal. Compared to other countries in LatinAmerica, the size of Panama’s SOE sector, as measured in SOE liabilities relative to GDP, is about inline with the average.1 2.The sector is diverse. It includes very small entities with a budget below $1 million andlarge corporations with sizeable operations.The ACP is by far the largest SOE. SOE activities spana broad range, from the provision of public services to purely commercial undertakings. Theirperformance has been mixed, and there are significant differences in public satisfaction with theservices provided by SOEs. For example, the metro system and Tocumen Airport are generallyperceived as functioning well, whereas many Panamanians have persistent concerns about watersupply, sewage, and waste collection. 3.On aggregate, the sector does not contribute significantly t