The University of Belize in Financial Trouble

The nation’s university is spending more than what is earns. That’s the revelation made today by President Professor Clement Sankat.  Sankat presented the university’s 2016-2017 Annual Report and Financial Audited Statement. The report shows that the University of Belize has been operating at a deficit for some time.  According to Professor Sankat, the financial gap is in the millions and during this recent 2017-2018 academic year, the university strived to break even from a loss position.

Clement Sankat

Clement Sankat, President, University of Belize

In 16/17, we immediately took the decision that we have to break the cycle of a loss position at the University of Belize. The accounts show that we are spending more than we are earning. That is bad news for any business, because you can soon become insolvent. We took the decision, we’ve got to break this stranglehold and we had to become more efficient, we had to increase productivity and we had to reduce waste. Now the data that you have in front of you is still not very good because the rest of University of Belize, technically, is still losing two to three million dollars a year. However, it is being reduced year by year. Whether we can actually break even under our current circumstances, where our income comes mainly from tuition and fees; I say our income comes mainly from tuition and fees and from government’s subvention, continues to be a challenge.”