Politicians offer divergent views on budget

During this morning’s BELTRAIDE ceremony, Minister of National Development and Investment Mark Espat also took the opportunity to offer a preview of his government’s budget for the new financial year. And while Espat hints that the document will contain lots of positive vibes, the Leader of the Opposition isn’t convinced.

Mark Espat, Min. of National Dev./Investment
“Tomorrow when the Prime Minister presents his new budget in the House of Representatives, I believe he will provide a very positive report on the growth of the economy in 2006. Domestic exports were up almost forty percent compared to 2005, unemployment is down to below ten percent, for the first time I believe in three years. And for an emerging economy like Belize it is important for us to understand that the two things are not mutually exclusive, we can have a situation where the business community benefits is more profitable, the wealth is shared especially to small and medium enterprises, we have new entrepreneurs emerging, and at the same time we have a reduction in poverty and an improvement of the quality of life of Belizeans in all six districts, especially our rural population.”

Dean Barrow, Leader of the Opposition
“We think this is the election year budget so we expect that every effort will be made to camouflage the true situation and to paint as pretty a picture as is possible. But we don’t think the people will be fooled, we think the time for games is long past and we don’t see that any political mileage will be made by the government no matter how they try to cover over the true situation.”