New D.F.C. board appointed; Chairman stays through June

The Development Finance Corporation has five new board members. The appointments by Prime Minister Dean Barrow in his capacity as Minister of Finance, were announced today in a release from the Belize Press Office. The three new non-government directors are Perla Perdomo, Pamela Joan Neal and Karim Berges. They join ex-officio appointees Yvonne Hyde, who is C.E.O. in the Ministry of Economic Development and Gabino Canto, C.E.O. in Agriculture and Fisheries. Remaining on the board is ex-officio member Financial Secretary Joseph Waight and Executive Chairman Arsenio Burgos. Burgos, a well respected accountant whose contract expires on June thirtieth, was brought in two and a half years ago to clean up the mess left by former chairman Glenn Godfrey, a self serving board and a few pliant executives. Burgos pared the D.F.C.’s debt, cleaned up its portfolio and has tightened up collections to the point that the corporation is meeting its debt obligations, particularly the fifty million dollars left owing under the North American Securitisation Programme. It is unclear whether Burgos will be rehired following the expiration of his contract. Also uncertain is the future role of the D.F.C. or any new development bank that the new government may wish to create.