News

The much-anticipated fourth bridge over the Panama Canal, including lines for the Panama metro, will be partially funded through bond sales, the government announced this week.

The bonds will be issued by the National Highway Company (ENA), La Prensa reports. The amount of the sale is not clear, at this point, but the project is expected to cost more than $1 billion and the bonds may account for more than half of that total. The bond will be repaid through tolls paid by users, La Prensa says.

The fourth bridge is seen as a key step in expanding the traffic flow and connecting Panama City to the west. The new bridge will include six lanes for traffic and two lines for the Metro.

Developing a realistic alternative funding source for the bridge is one more sign that the government is serious about moving forward as quickly as possible on the project. By using bonds, the project will avoid straining the general state budget, according to the Prensa report.

If the bridge development depended on the money from the state budget, the project “would have required sacrifices in a myriad of other projects,” Iván Zarak, deputy minister of Economy and Finance, told reporters.

The National Highway Company was created in 2010 to manage the Corredor Norte and Corredor Sur highways. The assignment of the agency was recently modified to include the bridge, Prensa reports.