2021 Budget Presentation on Horizon

John Briceño

The 2021 budget is two weeks away from being presented in the House of Representatives and the Briceño administration is still tying up loose ends ahead of its reading.  It is anticipated that the financial plan for the fiscal year beginning April first will be lean as all efforts are geared towards economic recovery.  PM Briceño told the media today that the budget reading is delayed for the sole purpose of getting input from all of government’s social partners.

Prime Minister John Briceño

“First, what we’ve been doing is explaining to them what is the situation and then, now secondly, is to tell them that this is what has to be done to be able to move the country forward and that is where we are.  We should have presented our budget this week, but because of the negotiations with the unions, because we’ve been negotiating and meeting with them in good faith, we are extending the discussions with them so that we will be presenting the budget, I think it’s next Friday, March twenty-sixth.  We then, will have the budget debate, I think it’s going to be April eighth, two days, the week after Easter.  So we will not be having a budget way into the middle of April and the only reason we’re doing that is simply because we want to ensure that we’re acting in good faith and trying to get the unions to understand what we’re confronting right now and we’re hoping that they will join us in what we are proposing to them as we present our budget next week Friday to the Belizean people.”