Law 563, published in Official Gazette No. 30647 of November 2, 2026, approves the General State Budget for fiscal year 2027. According to its article 1, the total amounts to US$35,111,749,929: US$29,759,980,679 for the non-financial public sector, US$4,175,383,875 for the financial public sector and US$1,176,385,375 for other public entities. It stems from Bill 644, submitted by the Ministry of Economy and Finance (MEF).

Article 9 sets Central Government revenue at US$20,843,353,883. Of that amount, tax revenue totals US$8,720,032,774, and non-tax revenue includes US$2,774,000,000 in dividends from the Panama Canal Authority and US$553,000,000 in Canal tolls. On the spending side, public debt interest totals US$2,645,861,729 and Central Government amortization US$2,433,602,334 (articles 7 and 8). By sector, article 4 allocates 41.76% of resources to social services and 9.47% (US$3,325,923,593) to infrastructure. The Ministry of Education receives US$3,138,792,891 in current spending and US$1,993,629,301 in capital spending.

The general rules also include provisions that affect government contractors and suppliers. Article 375 makes the investment projects budgeted for 2027 mandatory. Article 370 exempts from the public procurement law, in unforeseen or urgent situations, purchases of technical services, spare parts and equipment under US$1,000,000 by Metro de Panamá, the National Institute of Aqueducts and Sewers, the Electric Transmission Company, the Urban and Household Cleaning Authority, Tocumen International Airport and the ministries of Education, Public Works and Government, provided each entity adopts regulations approved by the Comptroller General's Office and published in the Official Gazette.

Article 358 requires the Ministry of Health and the Social Security Fund to reconcile their reciprocal debts for health services every quarter and to begin offsetting them during 2027, and article 377 requires all institutions to adopt results-based budgeting to prepare the 2028 budget. For companies that sell to the State, the combination of mandatory investment and faster purchasing at service entities could speed up contracting, although the pace will depend on actual revenue collection, Treasury cash flow and the instructions that the MEF and the Comptroller General's Office issue on the general budget administration rules (article 368).

Nexo Capital will follow the execution of the 2027 General State Budget.

Research assisted by Sentinel, with editorial verification of official sources. Discover Legislat.ai