Panama Maritime Authority Contributes Additional 11% 2020 Budget

PANAMA- JUNE 25, 2020--The Panama Maritime Authority (AMP) has contributed an additional 11% to Panama’s Central Government with $50.9M in June 2020, up from $45.9M that had been budgeted originally by the AMP. This represents an extraordinary compliance of 111%, with respect to the 2020 budget. The additional $5M is to sustain the need for resources due to the pandemic crisis caused by Covid-19.

“At the preliminary closing for the first semester of 2020, we have an income collection of $77.8M, a 95% compliance with the budget and 3% above the collection for the same period in 2019. Maintaining this income is key because it has allowed us to continue contributing significant income to the country, which translates into investments for sectors such as education, housing, roads, and health, among others,” said Panama Minister of Maritime Affairs, Noriel Arauz, who is also the AMP Administrator.

“Thanks to the Financial Planning we carried out at the end of 2019, we have been able to receive benefits, as early as the beginning of this year. We have implemented several strategies to receive early income: We have reviewed delinquent accounts, focused on getting new vessels registered under our Flag, the implementation of electronic wires collection, the segmentation of services and clients to avoid delinquency and the establishment of key indicators in the measurement of collection, among others. As a result of those measures, we had achieved, in March, 24% over budget and 12% more than last year, explained Minister Arauz.

“This early planification allowed us to support the income decrease in April and May, resulting from the Covid -19. We see a small recovery for the month of June.”

“We have managed, through the implementation of the electronic collection process and wire transfer, to migrate 85% of the manual transactions that were made in boxes to this electronic mechanism. For the months of April and May, the average rose to 97% of electronic transactions, helping us to maintain collection and, at the same time, comply with the distance and the measures implemented by Panama’s Ministry of Health (MINSA).”

“This result in income exceeds any expectation we had at the beginning of the Covid 19- crisis; however, we could achieve that because of the focus, the effort, the creativity to move very fast implementing innovative solutions and, above all, the AMP’s teamwork,”said Noriel Arauz.

"Despite the crisis, we continue to work 24 hours a day, we continue to collect more revenue than in previous periods and thus, bring greater financial contributions to the State and, above all, we have been able to improve the quality of life of our citizens,” he noted.

“All in all, we have helped the shipping business, and therefore the supply chain, not to come to a halt. It is in our hands to ensure that the international recognition we have earned, of being called a maritime country par excellence, is maintained for many more generations. This, without forgetting that our mission as administrators of public resources requires us to work hard for the most important goals: to generate well-being for Panamanian society in general.”

The Panamanian maritime sector has played a transcendental role in the economic growth, employment generation and international image of the country.