“Belize Has Moved Forward”, Says PM Briceño

John Briceño

PM Briceño responded to the Leader of the Opposition’s criticism by conceding that we are not yet out of the woods. But, according to PM Briceño, anyway you look at it, Belize has moved forward over the last year.

Prime Minister John Briceño

“I always remember what Mr. Price, the Father of the Nation,  use to tell me, when your opponents start to praise you, sit back and think what stupid thing you have done. So, I do expect the Leader of the Opposition to criticize. Of course, let us leave it at that. The point is this, by any metrics Belize has moved forward. We have moved this country considerably, better than anybody expected. The I.M.F. was amazed when they saw. The team leader said, and I could quote him, he said that he has never seen a country turn around things so fast in the world in one year. But, it does not mean we are out of the woods. We are not even at 2019 levels, and 2019 levels, we have to remember that Belize was already in a recession. The economy was contracting under the U.D.P. So, for people to say if we get at 2019 levels we are out of the woods, we are not out of the woods. Cruise tourism only had two hundred thousand last year when we are aiming for a million passengers. Overnight stays, we are about fifty eight percent than we were before the pandemic. So, we expect this year that we will be able to reach to those levels.”