banking

Panama ranks well in survey

The country‘s banking sector took second-highest in the region in a World Economic Forum survey.

LA PRENSA

sound: The World Economic Forum has judged Panama’s financial system as being one of the best in the region.1096040

Panama ranked 32nd out of 52 countries that were surveyed as part of the first Financial Development Index prepared by the World Economic Forum.

The survey ranked countries based on 140 areas, which included facets of each country's political, social and economic systems.

There were eight countries in this region included in the survey. Panama was second in the region, trailing only Chile, which ranked 30th overall.

Brazil (43), Mexico (44), Colombia (46), Peru (47), Argentina (48) and Venezuela (52) were the other countries from the region included.

The survey judged each country on factors such as the strength of its banking system, its business environment and its financial stability.

Panama ranked highly in several areas due to “a steady performance in key indicators,” the survey stated.

The secretary general of the Superintendencia de Bancos, Amauri Castillo, said that Panama's ranking was “more than satisfactory.”

“The stability, strength and liquidity of the financial system has helped the country weather the current international crisis,” Castillo said, adding that there is also a great deal of confidence in the system because of regulatory policies and supervision.