T-Notes Stall at US$20M, Despite Interest from Taiwanese Government
Dean Barrow
But the government coffers are not full and since introducing an initiative to raise thirty million U.S. dollars through treasury notes in early June, the Central Bank of Belize has raised a little over twenty million dollars. It is two-thirds of what is being sought locally so as to infuse much needed foreign exchange back into the domestic market. There has been a dearth of U.S. currency which forced banks and other lending institutions to ration the amount available for the purchase of goods on the international market so that importers are having a hard time bringing in goods. And with stevedores not at work at the Port, foreign exchange is not in abundance. The twenty million dollar figure has stagnated since we last asked the PM about the treasury notes one month ago. There has, nonetheless, been an expression of interest from the Taiwanese government.
Prime Minister Dean Barrow
“Twenty point two million of the amount has been subscribed, I thought I heard twenty-two million but maybe I am confusing twenty point two with twenty-two. Certainly not the entirety of the thirty million as being subscribed, but there is still continuing interest. I don’t know that I am telling tales out of school when I reveal that the Government of Taiwan, through the embassy, has expressed an interest. I don’t know if ultimately they will take up any of the remaining, any of the balance of the options that are still available, but that’s a source of interest and there are others. So we’ve gone twenty point two, but I don’t think that it’s quite over yet.”
Isani Cayetano
“My follow-up question, then, is, where are we now in terms of the overall foreign exchange state of affairs?”
Prime Minister Dean Barrow
“Perhaps stable is the word. We know that there have been constraints but it’s not as though the situation is approaching the point of rock bottom. We’re within the constraints, the Central Bank is very careful about the foreign exchange permits that you might even say rations, but within those sorts of parameters we are doing okay.”
