Will Queen Elizabeth II be Replaced on Belize’s Legal Tender?

Belizeans were quick to envisage new faces on our currency, in the wake of the queen’s passing on Thursday. While the memes flew wildly on social media, the central theme revolved around a change in the look of the dollar. Who will replace Queen Elizabeth on Belize’s legal tender?  To understand that process and how it works, Central Bank Governor Kareem Michael explained to the media that it’s not a topic that has not been discussed between the financial regulator and its minters.

Kareem Michael

Kareem Michael, Governor, Central Bank of Belize

“We’ve had discussions with our minters on this and they have advised always that you want to at least have that person be honorable, a certain level of… a national hero, for example; dignity, a man of the highest level of integrity or a person of the highest level of integrity. I would go a little bit further by saying, if you put somebody on at an early stage and realize that things may happen later on, a scandal of some sort which you might be faced with then, an embarrassment, so to speak, and even better, if you had a hero who is up there in age and passes, without a scratch or a blemish on his or her record, then fine.  There are numerous examples of this across the globe where are dead presidents, if you will, or past heroes, national heroes who are on the face of these notes on our currency.  So that’s essentially it.”