Less than a month after the price for liquefied petroleum gas was introduced, there is another change to the fixed control prices, which will take effect on December ninth. The prices are up across the board by twenty-three cents per gallon for both wholesale and retail. A release from the Belize Bureau of Standards advises […]
The working class can breathe a sigh of relief tonight as the Social Security Board announced that the Contribution Rate increase scheduled to take effect in 2021 has been deferred. The Contribution Rate was scheduled to increase from nine percent to ten percent with the wage ceiling increasing from four hundred and eighty dollars to […]
Quality Poultry Products is now available in the Caribbean, the island of Grenada to be specific. Earlier this month, the poultry producer from Spanish Lookout exported a container of chicken products to Grenada. It’s the first time they are exporting and according to the chicken company they delayed it by six months to ensure that […]
So, as you heard, Quality Poultry Products is now exporting to the Caribbean. During our interview with General Manager Raymond Barkman, he shared that despite this new exportation venture – business has been tough for the poultry producer and they have recorded a production decline of two point eight million pounds of poultry as a […]
Belize’s economy remains in dire straits, as the country’s productive sectors continue to grapple with the crippling effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. It has been six weeks since the People’s United Party assumed office as the new Government of Belize and what it discovered upon taking over from the previous administration is that the public […]
Like the Prime Minister, Minister of State in the Ministry of Finance Christopher Coye is predicting major headwinds in the future. Coye appeared on Open Your Eyes this morning where he described the challenges that the government is facing on both the micro and macro levels. He revealed that by day’s end on Thursday, the […]
And while the government intends to reveal its plans for economic recovery in 2021, following a round of consultations– Briceño assured Belizeans that the government will not be imposing any new revenue collecting measures. He went as far as saying that they have decided to postpone the increase of social security contributions which was to […]
And so on the heels of what Briceño describes as a ‘bruk government’ – the new administration will need to make real sacrifices by instituting serious belt-tightening measures. Briceño says that in the coming weeks we will know what actions the government will take to begin the economic recovery in 2021 – but while that’s […]
The Corozal Free Zone will not reopen this year. The Briceño Administration was adamant in reopening the free zone before Christmas but the Corozal Free Zone Chamber Commerce would not absorb the cost of a plan that would have been implemented if the free zone would have been reopened this month. Minister Jose Mai who […]
With the Christmas season in full swing, many Belizeans are shopping safely given the COVID times. So what better way to do that than by shopping online with BelizeOn. During this time, there are great deals and offers online for consumers – whether you are looking for that unique gift for the family or buying […]
Statutory Instrument one-seventy-five of 2020 came into effect on December twentieth, with restrictions for not only public, but also private transportation, which it says is for the purposes of preventing, controlling, containing and suppressing the spread of the infectious COVID-19. It speaks to the mandatory wearing of face masks during travel in public or private […]
Since the COVID-19 pandemic in Belize, runs to and from San Pedro were stopped temporarily. When the lockdown was lifted for Ambergris Caye, traffic to the island resumed, but it is still not where it used to be. Runs have been cut by half and the company is working on a skeleton staff. While the […]
Stakeholders in tourism, particularly the micro, small and medium enterprises that were hit hardest by COVID-19, will now be able to access financing through a twenty million U.S. dollar loan that Atlantic Bank Limited has received from I.D.B. Invest. It is estimated that M.S.M.E.s generate over seventy percent of private sector employment and income in […]
The Development Finance Corporation is on its way to become a Green Climate Fund accredited entity. It means that the D.F.C. will be able to provide access to funding for climate resilient related activities and investments. But before they become accredited, they must meet certain standards to be able to disburse funding. And so through […]
The National Gas Company began its operations back in May and has since been providing Belize with liquefied petroleum gas as the country’s sole importer. The private/public partnership was met with strong objections from other importers whose license to haul LPG overland from Honduras to Belize had come to an end. Notwithstanding the protest that […]
Prime Minister John Briceño today announced the members of the Economic Recovery Advisory Team. These members are tasked with getting the economy back on track. A working group of fourteen business professionals will make recommendations to engineer sustainable, economic activity going forward. A government press release says the team will also make recommendations to “protect […]
A second phase of the Empowering Communities to Empower Themselves initiative, funded by the U.S. Embassy Public Affairs grant, was launched today. Months ago, in the Yarborough community, a life skills centre was created to help empower members of the community to become entrepreneurs and to turn their backs to a life of crime. This […]
The price for Premium gasoline will take a dip of thirty-one cents as of midnight tonight. The new price per gallon will be nine dollars and eighteen cents, down from nine dollars and forty-nine cents. The price for regular gasoline, kerosene, and diesel will remain unchanged at nine dollars and nine cents, five dollars and […]
A ten percent salary cut will ring in the New Year for all Cabinet members. The announcement was made this morning by Prime Minister Briceño who, after weighing the effects of the economic downturn, thought it prudent to shave off a fraction of the monthly wages his ministers are collecting. Prime Minister John Briceño […]
Fuel prices are going up for regular gasoline will increase by forty-eight cents from eight dollars and sixty-one cents to nine dollars and nine cents per gallon, while kerosene will increase by one dollar from four dollars and seventy-three cents to five dollars and seventy-three cents per gallon. The costs for premium gasoline and diesel will remain […]
If you felt the pinch of groceries and rent in October, you weren’t wrong. The Statistical Institute of Belize says that while consumer prices were down by zero point five percent in October 2020 when compared to October 2019, food and home rental costs were up. The S.I.B. says that the zero point five percent […]
Turning to external trade, the S.I.B. reports that imports are down by almost thirty percent and domestic exports are down over five percent in October 2020. Imports from January to October this year were valued at one point three billion dollars, while domestic exports stood at three hundred and twenty-five million dollars. The S.I.B. reports […]
Prime Minister John Briceño chaired another cabinet meeting today where nine hundred and thirty thousand dollars was approved for a special December COVID-19 Relief Fund to be equitably distributed among all thirty-one constituencies. Minister of Human Development, Families and Indigenous Peoples’ Affairs, Dolores Balderamos Garcia, informed Cabinet that funds for the Food Assistance Program (FAP) […]
Belize’s economy shrunk by thirteen percent in the third quarter of 2020. According to the Statistical Institute of Belize, during the months of July to September, the total value of goods and services produced within the country for that period was down by more than eighty-five million dollars when compared to the goods and services […]
During the S.I.B.’s press conference, Sabal delved into those numbers looking at how the different sectors performed. While the primary and secondary sectors recorded increases, the tertiary sector contracted by eighteen point six percent. Within the primary sector, agriculture, hunting and forestry grew. In the secondary sector, electricity saw a thirty-two point eight percent increase […]
