President Juan Carlos Varela’s announcements

Thursday, September 15 President Juan Carlos Varela announced made big two announcements, just hours apart. The president took Panama City's Cinta Costera to announce that from January 2017 there would be a “significant reduction” in fares on  the Metro Buses on the North and South corridors and that the new transport plan would end the operation of “pirate buses” on the corridors.

Hours later in Pese, Herrera the president promised to increase the minimum wage of Government staff by $100 a month (from $500 to $600) also effective as of January 2017.

The two unexpected announcements left some question the feasibility and others claiming these promises had “no logical basis”.

Varela’s Metro Bus announcement

Varela’s statement regarding the new metro plan came after a meeting with Mi Bus company executives, Thursday morning. The president was presented with
an “Improvement Plan” for the transit system in which the unification of fares between the Metro Bus and Metro subway systems, was the main topic.
Varela explained in his announcement that there would be an official statement made in mid-October after the plan  was submitted to the Cabinet Council later this month.

Currently, the fare for traveling on the Metro on the corridors is $1.25.

Another topic covered was the renewal of the bus fleet. Between $36 million and  $40 million has been budgeted for renovations. The renovation process will take place over the year and a half, with 60 new buses, added each month.

Varela’s government employee wage boost announcement

On Thursday President Varela headed to his hometown of Pesé, Herrera where he announced the wage increase of 35,000 government employees. The announcement came as a surprise for some as it followed the General State Budget for 2017, which was already presented in the National Assembly earlier this year.

According to the Ministry of Economy and Finance, the increase represents a cost between 50 and 60 million, a cost which Varela added, each institution would generate savings to cover, as to not create an increase in the country’s total expenditures.