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According to the CIA World Factbook, Panama has an unemployment rate of 5.1%. According to the ECLAC, the poverty rate is 28.6% as of 2006 and is expected to decline to 11% by 2009, in spite of the Global financial crisis of 2008 – 2009. Also, an alimentary surplus was registered in August 2008, and infrastructure works are progressing rapidly. On the Human Development Index Panama is ranked at number 58 (2008). The International Monetary Fund has predicted that Panama will be the fastest growing economy in Latin America in 2009. It was the second fastest growing economy in Latin America in 2008, after Peru. Peru is a developing country with a 2006 Human Development Index score of 0.788.Its 2008 per capita income was US$4,452; 36.2% of its total population is poor, including 12.6% that is extremely poor. Historically, the country’s economic performance has been tied to exports, which provide hard currency to finance imports and external debt payments.Although exports have provided substantial revenue, self-sustained growth and a more egalitarian distribution of income have proven elusive.Services account for 53% of Peruvian gross domestic product, followed by manufacturing (22.3%), extractive industries (15%), and taxes (9.7%).Recent economic growth has been fueled by macroeconomic stability, improved terms of trade, and rising investment and consumption.Trade is expected to increase further after the implementation of a free trade agreement with the United States signed on April 12, 2006.Peru’s main exports are copper, gold, zinc, textiles, and fish meal; its major trade partners are the United States, China, Brazil, and Chile.

CURRENCY EXCHANGE RATE

06/24/09 $1 = 3.06 PEN