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On Friday, the Government of Belize announced that it had successfully negotiated with the majority of bondholders. Despite the achievement of the Briceño administration, the opposition still maintains this follows a series of initiatives that were already set in motion by the U.D.P. government. Here’s Opposition Leader Patrick Faber on the success of the Super […]
Written on September 27, 2021 | Posted in
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Comments Off on U.D.P. Says Briceño Administration Followed Its Super Bond Blueprint
The Belize Chamber of Commerce and Industry has issued a statement lauding the Government of Belize for having obtained the buy-in of approximately eighty-four percent of the holders of the outstanding Belize US Dollar Bonds 2034. The Chamber says it is commendable that this figure, which is well above the seventy-five percent threshold needed, has […]
Written on September 27, 2021 | Posted in
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Comments Off on B.C.C.I. Congratulates G.O.B. for Bondholder Buy-In
Belize has successfully negotiated the Super Bond and the Briceño administration announced late this evening that, “the Government of Belize is delighted that the vast majority of holders of the government’s only international bond have indicated their support for this proposed transaction.” Prime Minister John Briceño went to state, “we are attempting to achieve, in […]
Written on September 24, 2021 | Posted in
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Comments Off on Finally, Belize Successfully Negotiates Super Bond!
For a second time since the advent of COVID-19, Independence Day celebrations have been subdued, largely in part to an increase in cases across the country. On Tuesday, government officials, dignitaries and other invited guests journeyed to Belmopan where an official ceremony was held in commemoration of the fortieth anniversary of Belize’s political freedom. Among […]
Written on September 22, 2021 | Posted in
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Comments Off on The State of the Nation, Forty Years Later
The restructuring of Belize’s external debt has been much talked about since it was first announced on September third by Prime Minister John Briceño. Since then, additional details of an agreement with bondholders, as well as The Nature Conservancy, to streamline the Super Bond payments have been shared by the Government of Belize. In his […]
Written on September 22, 2021 | Posted in
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Comments Off on Payment of Belize’s External Debt to be Relaxed
Some Belizean businesses will be receiving funding through BELTRAIDE and DFC to expand their operations. With five hundred thousand dollars US in financing from the Caribbean Development Fund, thirty-five businesses ranging from micro to medium-sized will receive assistance. An export component is also included to assist businesses with export-ready products. At a Memorandum of Understanding […]
Written on September 15, 2021 | Posted in
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Comments Off on Financing Coming on Stream to Aid Struggling Businesses
While we were with the C.E.O. in the Ministry of Blue Economy, Kennedy Carrillo, we asked her about the proposal by the government to pay off the super bond, one component of which is the widely discussed “blue bond” for marine conservation program. C.E.O. Carrillo says it is a win-win for the country. Kennedy […]
Written on September 14, 2021 | Posted in
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Comments Off on C.E.O. Kennedy: Blue Bonds is Blue Economy
Earlier this month, the Belize Chamber of Commerce and Industry, in light of recent news that a number of government offices have switched from B.T.L. to Smart, wrote to Prime Minister John Briceño on the controversial issue. B.C.C.I. also raised the issue of the awarding of a Microsoft contract to Smart, an agreement that was […]
Written on September 14, 2021 | Posted in
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Comments Off on Chamber of Commerce, Prime Minister and Smart on Speednet Deal
Today, the government announced that Belize has officially commenced an offer to buy back the super bond, and the solicitation of consents from bondholders. Through the arrangement, Belize is proposing to finance the purchase of the bonds through funding via The Nature Conservancy. TNC uses private capital to refinance public debt in support of marine […]
Written on September 13, 2021 | Posted in
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Comments Off on Belize Commences Offer to Buy Superbond
The Ministry of Finance has announced that on Tuesday the pump price of two fuel products will change. The prices of regular gasoline will increase by twenty-six cents to eleven dollars and thirty-eight cents per gallon. Diesel will increase by six cents, rising to ten dollars and sixty-eight cents per gallon. The prices for premium […]
Written on September 13, 2021 | Posted in
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Comments Off on Regular and Diesel Gas Prices Going Up
Reports have been coming into News Five about residential garbage not being picked up for over a week. In some cases, Belize City residents have taken to social media to express their concern about the public health hazard associated with mounting trash. And so, a News Five’s team took to city streets to find garbage […]
Written on September 9, 2021 | Posted in
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Comments Off on Trash Impasse Continues: CitCo Collecting Garbage on its Own
When we spoke to the mayor last week, we were told that the outstanding payments were over a million dollars and counting, since the council has been unable to pay for about twenty-one weeks now. Based on the contractual agreement, the council pays about sixty thousand dollars weekly for garbage collection. But with BWC collecting […]
Written on September 9, 2021 | Posted in
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Comments Off on Will G.O.B. Bail Out City Council with Garbage Bill?
The Senate met today in Belmopan where the super bond, as well as the agreement between the Government of Belize and The Nature Conservancy, took center stage. Parliamentarians on both sides of the floor, including the social partner senators, all weighed in on the move by the Briceño administration to settle Belize’s massive external debt […]
Written on September 8, 2021 | Posted in
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Comments Off on Peyrefitte on Previous Comments Made on TNC Agreement
In response to Peyrefitte’s demand for an apology, Senator Eamon Courtenay referred to the People’s United Party’s strong track record on environmental conservation. He further stated that in negotiating the terms of the new agreement with The Nature Conservancy, fellow senator Chris Coye was successful in brokering a new deal. Eamon Courtenay, Leader of […]
Written on September 8, 2021 | Posted in
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Comments Off on Senator Courtenay Stands by P.U.P. Conservation Record
According to Minister of State Chris Coye, the initial agreement that was struck in October 2020 waived the stamp duty and land taxes; however, they have managed to agree on a sum of eighteen million dollars over a fifty-year period. Christopher Coye, P.U.P. Senator “There was an original agreement in each instance for TNC […]
Written on September 8, 2021 | Posted in
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Comments Off on TNC Agrees to Pay $18.2M in Land Taxes
A second project that TNC has a part to play in is the Belize Maya Forest Trust. TNC purchased over two hundred thousand acres of land and placed it in a trust for conservation. The lands were surrounded with controversy when the current administration revealed that TNC was exempted from paying land taxes on the […]
Written on September 8, 2021 | Posted in
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Comments Off on Renegotiated Deal with TNC Results in Discounted Tax Rate
The proposed agreement between the government and the Creditors’ Committee for the holders of the super bond developed during eight months of negotiations. When he appeared on Open Your Eyes this morning, Minister of State in the Ministry of Finance, Chris Coye said first the government had to build credibility, illustrated through tough decisions to […]
Written on September 8, 2021 | Posted in
Economy |
Comments Off on Belize Had to Build Credibility with Super Bond Holders
The albatross that is Belize’s massive external debt is a collective burden, some of which may be lifted off our shoulders in the weeks ahead, thanks to a new agreement being hammered out with bondholders. While he is yet to be given the specifics, former Prime Minister Dean Barrow welcomes the arrangement. Dean Barrow, […]
Written on September 8, 2021 | Posted in
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Comments Off on Former PM Weighs in on Super Bond and TNC Agreement
In terms of the conservation aspects of the agreement, the government has to make specific commitments, it is still negotiating. One of these has to do with biodiversity zones. Christopher Coye, Minister of State, Finance “Belize has biodiversity zones and commitments on biodiversity zones already. We have I think between fifteen and twenty percent […]
Written on September 8, 2021 | Posted in
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Comments Off on Commitments Would Increase Biodiversity Zones
And, if you thought the word “blue” in the term Blue Bond is referring to People’s United Party’s Blu manifesto or its party color, The Nature Conservancy says its organization is one hundred percent non-partisan. We spoke via zoom to Julie Robinson, Program Director at TNC. Julie Robinson, Program Director, TNC “One of the […]
Written on September 8, 2021 | Posted in
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Comments Off on Nature Conservancy: Blue Bonds Have Nothing to Do With Partisanship
Coye went on to explain what the formal offer will be that the government will launch on the Super Bond on Thursday. Included in it is an incentive for bondholders who sign on to the government’s offer. Christopher Coye, Minister of State, Finance “What that offer will be is fifty-five cents on the dollar. […]
Written on September 8, 2021 | Posted in
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Comments Off on Super Bond Holders Offered Incentives
Prime Minister John Briceño shared in the House of Representatives on Friday that Belize and the Bond Holders’ Committee of the super bond had reached an agreement, in principle, on how they would proceed with settling the super bond. The debt, which has existed since 2007, now stands at five hundred and seventy-two million U.S. […]
Written on September 7, 2021 | Posted in
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Comments Off on Prime Minister Provides More Details on Proposed Super Bond Plan
Tonight, we take a closer look at The Nature Conservancy’s work in Belize, differentiating between the organization’s involvement in protecting over two hundred thousand acres of forest land in the Belize Maya Forest, and agreeing to aid Belize in restructuring its super bond with marine conservation as its end goal. News Five’s Paul Lopez seeks […]
Written on September 6, 2021 | Posted in
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Environment |
Comments Off on A Closer Look at the TNC, the Blue Bond and the Belize Maya Forest
The Government of Belize has made an equity investment of thirty-one million Belize dollars into the Development Finance Corporation. It is made up of a Debt-to-Equity Swap and a Conversion to Equity of two agency accounts namely, the European Union Sugar Cane Replanting Program and the Belize Rural Credit Fund Program. According to the government press […]
Written on September 6, 2021 | Posted in
Economy |
Comments Off on DFC Presents G.O.B. with Share Certificates
Six months of discussions between the government and the committee representing the super bond holders have resulted in an agreement in principle between the parties. As Prime Minister John Briceño explained to reporters during a short break of today’s House Meeting in Belmopan, the bondholders hold almost half of the so-called “super bond,” whose outstanding […]
Written on September 3, 2021 | Posted in
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Comments Off on Belize Working on Deal to Cut Super Bond
