Direct foreign investment (FDI) in Panama fell 17%  to $1.098.5 billion in the first quarter of this year, compared to the same period of 2017  according to l statistics released  Sunday, June 24.

Data from the National Institute of Statistics and Census (Inec) shows that foreign capital income had in absolute terms a decrease of $225.6 million dollars between January and March, compared to the first quarter of the previous year.

FDI totaled 5.319.2 billion  in 2017 8.6% of nominal GDP, as well as a 1.8% increase compared to the result of the previous year, according to the data official

Panama's economy grew by 4.2% in the first quarter of 2018, while the indicator closed with an expansion of 5.4% or in 2017.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) projects Panama's GDP growth of around 4.6% for this year and around 6.8% for 2019.