National Economic Council holds first meeting

This afternoon, Cabinet ministers, private sector organizations, citrus, sugar, and banana industry representatives, and financial services personnel joined members of the National Trade Union Congress and senior public officers at the Central Bank for the first meeting of the National Economic Council. The group will meet every quarter to discuss economic and social issues affecting Belize. According to Prime Minister Said Musa, this initiative is one of government’s latest attempts at transparency and accountability. As chairman, the P.M. says he will consult with the council prior to making major government decisions.

Prime Minister Said Musa

?We intend to set up a Secretariat in this National Economic Council that will be feeding papers in advance to the council, that people will have a chance to analyse and study documentation even before the meetings. And I do intend to takes this council very seriously because I think it is very important that the exchange of views, and indeed the information to the public should be kept on a constant basis. To the press, you all need to be informed. I?ve sense that in recent times there?s been too much of speculative journalism going on, and your defence might well be it?s because we?re not getting the information coming out from the various government departments, from ministries, so we have to speculate. Well I think speculation is a dangerous thing, it?s not healthy for the image of the country, it?s not healthy for the development of the country. We do need to work on facts, and the best to get out the facts is to have this type of council that will analyse things, we consult fully and regularly, and in this way I think we will have better governance in our country.?

On the table at this first National Economic Council meeting was the two hundred and twenty-five million U.S. dollar bond issue, the Carnival Cruise Line investment, and the management of Phillip Goldson International Airport.