It is early evening on a Wednesday night but Manolo Caracol is buzzing just the same. A group of more than 20 well-dressed Panamanians fills one side of the spacious, ethno-chic restaurant, and the sangria at their table has been flowing for a while. To the left, against a backdrop of primitive oil paintings and oversized buckets brimming with tropical fruit, a young woman cooks furiously while waiters skip between the tables in an attempt to keep up with demand.

Not so long ago, you could turn up unannounced at this cool, Colombian-owned restaurant in the best part of Panama’s historic centre and be confident of getting a table. Doing that today might lead to disappointment: Panama’s economy is expanding at the fastest rate in almost a generation, and business is booming virtually everywhere you look. “We’re experiencing growth across the board, not just in one particular sector,” says Héctor Alexander, Panama’s finance minister.