Effective tonight at midnight, the price of diesel at the pumps will increase by forty-six cents. This takes the retail price of the fuel from eight dollars and seventy-four cents to nine dollars and twenty cents. Last week, the cost of regular gas went up by fifty-one cents and is now being sold at nine […]
Shifting from crime to economic recovery…As we showed you on Monday, the Corozal Free Zone reopened for business after being closed for ten months. Some eight hundred persons were employed, under strict COVID-19 protocols. Minister of Agriculture, Abelardo Mai, who sits on the inter-ministerial committee that plans and reviews COVID-19 protocols for the Corozal Free […]
One of the questions the press put to Minister Mai was about the business’ state at the Corozal Free Zone. He says the opening days were busy and anticipates that it will continue to progress as more vendors are certified to open their shops. Abelardo Mai, Minister of Enterprise “After the first two days, […]
The presentation of the 2021 budget by the Briceño administration is still a few weeks away, but putting together the financial plan, despite severe austerity, is well underway. Earlier this week, Prime Minister John Briceño and Minister of State Christopher Coye, along with several other government officials, sat down with the business community to discuss […]
The outlook for the upcoming financial year is not promising. The Government of Belize has been operating in the red before the COVID-19 pandemic, which has only made matters worse for our local economy. A new fiscal calendar will be rolled out on April first, but there won’t be any celebration. Those twelve months will […]
The perpetual albatross that is the Super Bond also stands at roughly one point two billion Belize dollars, with an interest payment of twelve million dollars due in May. In 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic began affecting the government’s bottom line, the Barrow administration turned to bondholders seeking permission to capitalize interest on five hundred […]
The cost per gallon of regular gasoline is inching up by another fifty-one cents on Wednesday when it goes from nine dollars and twenty-seven cents to nine dollars and seventy-eight cents. If it’s any comfort to consumers, the prices for premium gasoline, kerosene and diesel remain unchanged at nine dollars and eighty-nine cents, six dollars […]
The Corozal Free Zone reopened for business today following ten months of closure. Discussions about reopening had started soon after the general elections, and there was collaborative planning to ensure area could open for much-needed business in the safest way possible. But when the gates opened today, it was not without its kinks. There were […]
Vendors across the country welcomed the news on Friday that the new COVID-19 regulations would give them some relief. For months, vendors were forced to relocate from their popular spots into private property if they wanted to continue selling. That has now changed. Vendors are now allowed to sell in public spaces as long as […]
One of the hardest-hit communities in the COVID-19 pandemic is San Pedro Town. The once-bustling tourist hotspot was the first part of the country to go into a lockdown in March of 2020. Then the borders were closed for the better part of the year. Even after reopening at the end of last year, businesses […]
“We will do everything possible not to retrench anyone.” Those are Prime Minister Briceño’s words on Tuesday when speaking about budget preparation for the upcoming financial year. In March, PM Briceño will present his first budget. It will be a challenge considering the debt accumulated under the Barrow Administration; that revenue collection has decreased by […]
When Minister of Agriculture, Food Security and Enterprise announced that he was looking at protectionist policies in order to promote domestic producers, it wasn’t welcomed with open arms. Some sections of the public were worried that their favourite imported brands will disappear from store shelves, but Minister Jose Mai says that’s not the aim of […]
The previous Public Utilities Commission’s decision to purchase the old Mirab building on North Front Street in 2019 raised many questions. Under former chairman John Avery, the P.U.C. purchased the building and its properties for ten point three million dollars, but they never moved in. Instead, it is presently paying twelve thousand dollars monthly for […]
On January fifteenth, the Ministry of Transport terminated twenty-four employees at the Novelo’s Bus Terminal in Belize City. Their dismissal comes at the height of maga season and particularly when job opportunities are hard to come by. According to Minister Rodwell Ferguson, whose responsibilities include oversight of the Transport Department, the decision to let go […]
In responding to the terminations at the Ministry of Transport, Prime Minister John Briceño also spoke on the general issue of employment in these times of austerity where there simply aren’t many jobs to offer. John Briceño, Prime Minister “On the issue of the people that have been let go at the bus terminals, […]
With so many unemployed, one of the growing concerns is that it will lead to an increase in crime. In an interview today with the Minister of Home Affairs, Kareem Musa, we asked him that very question. Musa quickly noted that the new administration assumed office with sixty-thousand people already out of work for more […]
When it comes to the Corozal Free Zone reopening, Minister Musa says the COVID-19 prevention protocols will be stringent and will only allow one-third of employees to return to work. As we’ve reported, Cabinet decided to reopen the Free Zone on February first and formed an inter-ministerial committee to review plans and protocols for the […]
As we reported on Tuesday, in two weeks, after almost a year of dormancy, the Corozal Free Zone will reopen for business. Viewers will recall that in the first quarter of 2020, the Zone was closed to prevent the re-introduction of COVID-19 through the northern border, and all its economic activity came to a screeching […]
When the Minister of Agriculture, Food Security and Enterprise, Jose Mai, told the House on Friday that he favored limiting import permits for certain milk and cheeses on the market, it caused quite a stir. Many took to social media to voice their concerns about not having access to their preferred products. Well, it seems […]
Minister Mai confirmed to News Five that cabinet decided that the Corozal Free Zone will be reopened on February first. Its reopening was one of the manifesto promises of the party. The free zone had been closed for almost a year due to the COVID-19 pandemic and thousands of persons became unemployed in the north. […]
The Supplementary Appropriations Bill will tide the Briceño administration over until the start of the next financial year on April first after it goes before the upper house on Wednesday in a special sitting of the senate. The three-month period is an entire quarter that government would need to be financed. The dire strait it […]
While Prime Minister John Briceño and his government table bills to alleviate the financial constraints, he has the hefty superbond payments hovering above his head. Early in the pandemic, then Prime Minister Dean Barrow decided that it would be better to ask bondholders for a deferral on the bond payment. Bondholders agreed to defer the […]
The government-owned bank, the National Bank of Belize, has a new board of management. The bank, which is headquartered in Belmopan, will now be headed by new chairman, Thomas Tillett. The rest of the new board includes Ashanti Martin, Arsenio Burgos, Oscar Arnold, and Carlo Habet. It is the Prime Minister who appoints the board […]
Of the eight bills that the government tabled on Friday, four are related to the government’s fiscal plan to address the challenges of COVID-19 and the recent weather-related disasters. One of those bills is the Central Bank of Belize Amendment Bill of 2021. Through this amendment, the Central Bank of Belize can provide for emergency […]
Through the Finance and Audit (Reform) (Amendment) Bill of 2021, Briceño’s government also proposes the establishing a Contingencies Fund to be used for urgent and unforeseen expenditure for which no other provision exists. It is the first time in history that a contingencies fund is being created. Prime Minister John Briceño “The constitution recognizes […]
