Cabinet approves special fund for oil revenues

The Senate may still be trying to decide exactly how much income tax oil producers should be paying, but that has not stopped Cabinet from approving a plan on what to do with whatever cash they collect. According to a release from the Prime Minister’s office, legislation is being prepared to establish the Belize Petroleum Revenue Management Fund. Created on the advice of experts provided by the Commonwealth Secretariat, the fund will be the repository for all government income derived from petroleum production. It will be managed by the Central Bank of Belize. The Senate has yet to act on a bill, already read in the House of Representatives, that would raise the income tax on oil producers from twenty-five to forty percent.