PANAMA - Panama readies to deal with El Niño phenomenon and minimize its economic impact through power saving, efficient running water use and giving loans to producers.

ETESA Electricity Company experts reported temperatures raise between two and three degrees above average forecasts for the season that along declining rainfall led to a shortage of water to produce power and for agriculture.

So the National Bank of Panama is giving credits to help producers buy machinery and other supplies to feed the livestock and drill wells.

The Instituto de Acueductos y Alcantarillados Nacionales (IDAAN) will recover water processing plants, drill wells nationwide and carry water to remote areas.

The Energy Ministry even advised the government to activate a saving program in the public sector aimed at reducing demand and avoid using hydroelectric plants to generate power.