Panama to regulate prices of 72 food items to ease rising living costs

To resolve weeks of disruptive roadblocks and strikes, the Panamanian government reached an agreement with labor and civil groups to regulate the prices of 72 staple food products. The measure was designed to reduce the cost of the basic consumer food basket by approximately 30 percent, generating an estimated savings of over $80 per household. Alongside the food caps, authorities lowered and froze fuel prices nationally at $3.25 per gallon, substantially increasing the government's fiscal subsidy commitments.