Government’s bloated wage bill is in excess of half a billion dollars in salaries for public officers. It is a looming crisis that any new government would have to deal with. U.D.P. Leader Patrick Faber says there is a difficult decision to make, in terms of trimming the fat from government’s wage bill. Patrick […]
The fate of the Unemployment Relief Programme which is a government initiative overseen by Doctor Carla Barnett hangs in the balance as the election date draws nearer. At present, a little over fifty thousand persons who are jobless as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic have been approved for financial assistance and are accessing funds […]
On Tuesday, the Belize Bureau of Standards announced a change in the price of butane that became effective today. The new fixed controlled price for Liquefied Petroleum Gas for wholesale is now at two dollars and seventy-six cents; while retail LPG goes for four dollars and thirty-six cents in urban areas and four dollars and […]
According to Matura, the government has not defined what a wholesale volume is. She says that the way it is regulated – or the lack thereof – is essentially aimed at putting her clients out of business. She says that her clients have been relegated to being only retailers and so they need their own […]
The COVID pandemic continues to batter Belize. The economic figures for August show a significant drop of fifteen point two percent in imports down to one hundred and forty-three point seven million dollars over the same period in 2019. Imports into the ‘Commercial Free Zones’ dropped substantially by forty-two percent from thirty point three million […]
During the months of April to June 2020 the economy shrunk twenty-three percent. It is the largest quarterly decline seen and the contraction was the result of the COVID-19. The economic downturn is still being felt across sectors even as the national debt continues to mount from loans from international financial institutions for relief to […]
The COVID 19 pandemic has left thousands jobless, without income and in desperate need of assistance. Latest figures show that sixty-two thousand three hundred and sixty-three persons applied to benefit from phase two of the COVID-19 Unemployment Relief Programme. The programme is for persons who have lost their jobs and have no money coming in […]
Going into the tenth September, the pump price for regular gasoline will increase by twenty-seven cents from eight dollars and sixty-two cents to eight dollars and eighty nine cents per gallon. Prices for premium gasoline will continue to retail at nine dollars and thirty six cents, kerosene at five dollars and forty-three cents and diesel […]
For the past five months, Mexican investors in the Corozal Free Zone have been barred from entering Belize to check on their businesses due to the closure of the country’s borders, amid the COVID-19 pandemic. As you know, the neighbouring Quintano Roo has been heavily affected by the COVID 19 with the number of cases […]
As for the state of the Corozal Free Zone, Hotchandani says that everything remains at a standstill and business owners continue to lose significant sums of money the longer the area remains closed. Anil Hotchandani, Vice Chairman, Corozal Free Zone “It continues at a standstill. We wrote a letter, just drafted a letter to […]
Earlier this week, the Statistical Institute of Belize released its latest figures on the performance of the economy. The past three months have been dismal, to say the least, as the economy has contracted in most areas. In fact it shrunk by twenty-three percent. But all is not lost, says the prime minister, notwithstanding the […]
The agro-productive sector is getting some much needed COVID relief from the Ministry of Agriculture. A sum of sixteen million dollars will be made available by the end of September for small and medium farmers in the form of cash vouchers to purchase items such as seeds and fertilizer. The relief aid will also benefit […]
Minister Hulse breaks down how the funds will be disbursed based on the constriction of the agriculture sector due to COVID-19. The Belize Agriculture Information Management System is the database used to interface with eligible farmers. Godwin Hulse, Minister of Agriculture “These are significant funds that will be injected into the agriculture sector. This […]
With a deep drop in tourism arrivals due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the local airline industry has been devastated. According to the latest figures from the Statistical Industry of Belize, the pandemic interrupted land, sea and air transportation registering a twenty-eight point eight percent decline when compared to the same period in 2019. For now, […]
The economy contracted as much as twenty-three percent between April and June due to COVID-19. Most sectors felt the devastating effects of the pandemic rending thousands of Belizeans jobless. Today, the government said that the Unemployment Relief has run into trouble since inaccurate information has been provided to the banks by the applicants and money […]
There is grim economic news tonight; the economy contracted by twenty-three point three percent in the second quarter. That is the highest contraction we’ve seen in the past two decades. In fact, it is the largest quarterly decline to date. The decline reflects the effects of COVID-19 on economies across the region through external and […]
The primary sector contracted by twenty point two percent during the second quarter of the year, from eighty point six million to seventy point eight million dollars. Sugarcane production declined considerably by fourteen percent and this is due to the 2019 drought which affected harvesting. Livestock production fell by thirty-six point nine percent. Jacqueline […]
In the secondary sector, a decline of nineteen point five percent over the three-month period was recorded. Within this sector, the ‘Manufacturing and Mining’ industry saw output fall by twenty-two point five percent. Beverage production suffered immensely from the lack of tourist visitors to the country, as well as the closure of restaurants and bars […]
The most recent figures from the Statistical Institute of Belize’s monthly Consumer Price Index show that on average Belizean households saw the overall cost of regularly purchased goods and services rise by zero point one percent, when compared to the same month last year. Statistician Daysi Montero says this was the result of higher home rental […]
According to the Acting Director General Diana Castillo-Trejo, the price collection basket used to determine the Consumer Price Index is an old model. The updated model was not used and it begs the question: are the C.P.I. figures a true representation of what consumers pay on the ground? Diana Castillo-Trejo, Acting Director General, S.I.B. “We […]
External trade decreased significantly due to COVID-19 for July 2020. In July, the country imported goods valuing one hundred and nineteen million dollars, a decrease of thirty-seven point eight percent. According to Statistician Tiffany Vasquez, this represents the third consecutive month that imports declined by more than one-third, signalling the far-reaching impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, as […]
Alfred “Big Red” Usher last week bitterly complained to News Five that he has been illegally and unfairly detained and placed in quarantine. He was caught in Orange Walk with contraband cigarettes primarily sold at the Corozal Free Zone. More than two weeks had passed and Usher remained at the quarantine centre. A frustrated Usher […]
With the recent spike in COVID-19 infections and the economy still stuttering, following the previous three-month state of emergency, is government financially able to sustain various industries, including the agro-productive sector? According to PM, the risk of his administration running out of finances to support these industries is unlikely as it continues to source funds […]
On Wednesday, the Senate approved the spending of two point two million dollars to cover the legal and consultation fees attached to the consent solicitation process for the deferral of interest on payments on the super bond payments. The government successfully managed to convince bondholders to capitalize interest payments, due to the economic downturn triggered by […]
In respect of the government’s wage bill and the need to cut costs incurred by government departments, First Vice President Dean Flowers says that a meeting is to be convened to discuss austerity measures that can taken across the public sector. Dean Flowers, 1st Vice President, P.S.U. “The Public Service Union does in fact […]
