Casas de cambio to be closed by Monday

They were introduced in 2002 as a way to regularize the free wheeling market in foreign exchange and put pressure on the banks, which previously held a monopoly on legal currency transactions. But most mainstream economists never did like the casas de cambio and saw them merely as legal fig leaf to permit the big black market moneychangers to operate without fear of official harassment. Today we are informed that as of next Monday, July eleventh, the casas will be shut down and the only legal money dealers will once again be the banks, Belize Global Travel Services, and the Government of Belize. International advisors, led by the I.M.F., have long advocated the abolition of the money houses, presumably because despite the reporting requirements, the institutions channelled huge sums of foreign exchange out of the country that never showed up in official figures.

While black market transactions will now be punishable by a ten thousand dollar fine or twelve months in jail, there is no doubt that the bustling trade in U.S. dollars will continue at both borders, as well as among those in the overnight and cruise tourism sectors.