Panama Statutory legal interest (interés legal)
Panama Statutory legal interest (interés legal) is 6 percent, in force since 1 Jul 1917. Last checked against the official source on 10 Aug 2026.
Panama's legal interest: a fixed 6% per annum on civil money debts in default under Art. 993 of the Código Civil, and a separate fixed 10% per annum on commercial debts under Art. 223 of the Código de Comercio.
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| Current value | 6 percent |
|---|---|
| In force from | 1917-07-01 |
| Official source | Código Civil de la República de Panamá (Ley 2 de 22 de agosto de 1916, Gaceta Oficial 2.404), art. 993: 'Si la obligación consistiere en el pago de una cantidad de dinero y el deudor incurriere en mora, la indemnización de daños y perjuicios, no habiendo pacto en contrario, consistirá en el pago de los intereses convenidos y, a falta de convenio, en el interés legal. Mientras no se fije otro por la ley, se considerará legal el interés de seis por ciento al año' |
| Last verified | 2026-08-10 |
| Verification | primary — No verification limitation recorded — read from the official source cited. |
| Provenance | source fingerprint |
What this value means
Panama has TWO fixed statutory rates and the split is by the nature of the debt, not the parties. CIVIL debts: 6% per annum under Código Civil art. 993, payable as the damages measure once the debtor is in mora and only 'a falta de convenio' — an agreed rate displaces it. In force since the Code took effect on 1 July 1917 (art. 1802: 'Este Código principiará a regir el día 1 de julio de 1917'). COMMERCIAL debts: 10% per annum under Código de Comercio art. 223 — 'Las deudas comerciales líquidas y pagaderas en efectivo, producirán intereses... Cuando el tipo del interés no se hubiere especificado por convenio, se entenderá que es el interés legal, el cual será de diez por ciento al año, mientras no se fije otro por la ley' — the 10% figure inserted by art. 8 of Ley 43 de 19 de marzo de 1919 (Gaceta Oficial 3.091). A merchant creditor on a liquidated cash-payable commercial debt claims 10%, not 6%; art. 223 also bars compound interest absent express agreement. Both articles are residual: each says the rate stands 'mientras no se fije otro por la ley', so a later special statute (consumer credit, banking, preferential-interest regimes) can override for its own field. USURY CEILING on agreed rates: Código Civil art. 1450 (as amended by art. 4 of Ley 7 de 31 de marzo de 1928) caps conventional interest at 2% per month, the court must reduce a higher rate to that ceiling of its own motion even if the debtor does not plead usura, and a debtor who paid above 2% monthly may recover the excess PLUS an equal amount; the ceiling captures any sum received above principal whatever it is called (penalty, damages, commission). Anatocismo: art. 994 — 'Los intereses vencidos no devengan interés en ningún caso' for civil debts, with commercial matters referred to the Código de Comercio; art. 994-A (added by Ley 9 de 25 de enero de 1967) bars interest on interest and capitalisation on instalment obligations, restricting interest to the outstanding balance, on pain of a 100–1,000 balboa fine. OFFSHORE CARVE-OUT: Código de Comercio art. 223-A (added by art. 32 of Decreto Ley 5 de 2 de julio de 1997) exempts interest on operations perfected, performed or taking effect outside Panama from the usury statutes Ley 5 de 1933 and Ley 4 de 1935. Retrieval note: organojudicial.gob.pa returns HTTP 403 to automated fetchers; the cited consolidation carries the Gaceta Oficial number and date for every amendment.
Get it programmatically
curl https://latamref.dev/v1/pa/statutory-interest
# $0.005 per call — x402 on Base (USDC). No key, no signup.
# History: curl https://latamref.dev/v1/pa/statutory-interest/history?from=2020-01-01
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The same figure elsewhere: Paraguay · Peru · Trinidad and Tobago · Uruguay · Argentina · all 22