What’s Up with Foreign Exchange and the Economy?

Dean Barrow

Earlier this week, the Statistical Institute of Belize released its latest figures on the performance of the economy.  The past three months have been dismal, to say the least, as the economy has contracted in most areas. In fact it shrunk by twenty-three percent.   But all is not lost, says the prime minister, notwithstanding the recent contraction, government, as well as the people of Belize are getting by.

Prime Minister Dean Barrow

“We’re certainly not at the point of extreme crisis.  As far as I know, the Central Bank has not yet had to have recourse for its own foreign currency holdings to boost the distribution, the disbursement of foreign currency from commercial banks.  So of course it‘s tight, we always knew that it would be in a scenario where, as you say, there‘s a huge economic contraction and contraction by way, in terms of our exports and in particular the non-earning of the foreign exchange revenue that we use to get from tourism.  So there is no way we can say all is well, but as with all the other problems that we are facing, sir we are managing.”