On both sides of the political divide, wealthy people who pay relatively low taxes in Panama are fighting any reforms that might change that, says the Panama News. From the PRD side, former Finance and Economy Minister Guillermo Chapman argued on national television that the country needs to collect the revenue owed to the government under the present laws, instead of revising the tax structure.Chapman, along with the banking sector, is also very much against a proposal to impose a half-percent tax on assets.

For its part, the publication El Panama America argued in a front-page editorial that the creation of new taxes, or increases in existing ones, would slow the economy just when it needs a stimulus.

Panama's current Finance and Economy Minister Norberto Delgado would probably disagree. He was reported recently as saying that a sea change has occurred in the country's economy, that it is gradually turning around, and therefore the country is well-prepared for an overhaul of its taxes.