This morning, the San Pedro Town Council was visited by members of the opposition People’s United Party on the island. The meeting, at the invitation of the current U.D.P. Mayor, Daniel Guerrero, was in reference to allegations of misappropriation of public funds at the town hall. It has been quite some time since an audit […]
Prices for butane gas have gone down by a dollar for the one hundred pound cylinder countrywide. We note that the domestic price of LPG distributed by Belize Natural Energy Limited is the lowest at one hundred and eight dollars at its depots in Burrell Boom, San Ignacio, Belmopan, Benque Viejo Del Carmen and Punta […]
At the end of May, the Statistical Institute of Belize reported that the economy contracted in the first quarter of 2014. It wasn’t a huge contraction – just zero point four percent, but where the economy is concerned, any contraction is a cause for worry. Not really…says Prime Minister Dean Barrow. He’s disappointed of course, […]
The latest figures released from the Statistical Institute of Belize indicate that there has been a slight contraction of the economy when compared to last year’s economic performance in the first quarter. At a press conference today, S.I.B. reported that though the figures are in preliminary form, economic growth dipped by zero point four percent […]
In economic news, a team from the International Monetary Fund, led by Jacques Bouhga-Hagbe, has concluded a consultation mission to Belize on the state of the economy. The report issued by the IMF says that the economy is estimated to have grown by only point seven percent in 2013 due to the continued decline in […]
The latest stats on regional internet speeds versus cost are in, and Belize is coming in almost dead last, comparatively speaking. The report was submitted by the ICT Pulse, which has been tracking internet speeds and prices across the Caribbean since 2011. This year, they analyzed nineteen countries from the region. Of note is that […]
The consumer price index for March, a government-issued list of the retail prices of basic household goods and services, has been released by the Statistical Institute of Belize. There has been an increase in the inflation rate, primarily the result of higher prices in food, housing, water, electricity and gas, among other factors. The inflation […]
The Public Utilities Commission has approved a rate increase requested by Belize Water Services Ltd. While it is not the sixteen and a quarter percent initially sought by the company, water rates across the country, with the exception of Caye Caulker, will be going up by approximately fifty-five cents. On December thirty-first, 2013, BWSL made […]
More details will become available on Tuesday at a press conference, but we can confirm tonight that the Public Utilities Commission has approved an increase in water rates by the Belize Water Services Limited, BWSL. The Commission has given the green light to a revised Business Plan and Regulated Values of more than fourteen million […]
In recent weeks, there have been persistent reports of financial problems at the Punta Gorda Town Council. Now financial difficulties in municipal administrations are legion – revenues are notoriously scarce while obligations are many. But there is word that the problems way down south in Punta Gorda are bigger than that – so serious in […]
If Mayor Darrell Bradley has seemed a little frazzled lately, it’s because he is. On one hand, there has been massive works done in the city – that can’t be disputed. But there are overwhelming challenges, including debt obligations in the millions. Belize Waste Control has led the charge against City Hall to collect what […]
The Budget debate is over, and so is the Senate discussion of the Budget. At the end of the day, the fact is that in our political system, the majority always wins regardless of dissent, no matter how credible. But there have been serious concerns raised in certain quarters. Private sector Senate Representative, Mark Lizarraga, […]
The annual budget debate 2014, held on Monday and Tuesday, has been widely described as anticlimactic, primarily because majority of the arguments in the Honorable House revolved around the many personalities that comprise lower parliament. From literary references to stolen speeches and criticisms of prime ministers past, little was left unsaid, save for an actual […]
The Consumer Price Index for the month of February, released earlier this week by the Statistical Institute of Belize, indicates that there is a one point seven percent increase in expenditure when compared to the same period in 2013. There has been a three percent upsurge in the food index, primarily due to higher prices […]
There is another resignation from a senior government post to report tonight following on the heels of the departure of the Esquivel family from government. When Laura Esquivel-Frampton was forced to resign from the Belize Tourism Board, two-term Prime Minister, Sir Manuel Esquivel, resigned as advisor to the P.M.; his wife, Kathy, also resigned as […]
Butane prices are up once again. The Belize Bureau of Standards has approved the increase effective Thursday. The new controlled price for liquid petroleum gas (LPG) depends on the supplier. Butane imported by Belize Gas Limited and Western Gas Company Limited from PEMEX in Mexico will see a one-dollar increase across the board in every […]
Debate of the proposed budget for the new financial year begins next week; both sides of the aisle in the House of Representatives are going through the budget with a fine tooth comb. The theme for the 2014-2015 Budget is Bettering People, Building Belize – A Budget for all. Tonight, Isani Cayetano has an overall […]
The highlight of today’s news should have been the presentation of the 2014 – 2015 Budget but there was a lot else to get out of the way. So with that done, we can get down to business – or money, to be a little more precise. Prime Minister Barrow’s presentation is twenty-eight pages long; […]
The thrust of the Prime Minister’s budget presentation was on education, healthcare and infrastructure. And then Prime Minister Barrow turned to the real meat of the budget, the numbers contained in the draft estimates for fiscal year 2014/2015. Dean Barrow, Prime Minister “The proposed budget targets a preliminary primary surplus of 1.0 percent of […]
It is customary to get a response from the Opposition Leader on any budget presented in the House. To our recollection, there has never been any occasion when that feedback has been positive. And we don’t think that will ever change. Following the Prime Minister’s more than hour long journey on the glory train today, […]
Prime Minister Dean Barrow prefaced his budget proposals section of the presentation today by stating that the priorities can be summed up in three words – Additional Social Protection. And with that said, he launched immediately into news for teachers and public officers. That news is that the numbers crunchers in the Ministry of Finance […]
On Friday, Prime Minister Dean Barrow will present the 2014 – 2015 Budget in the House of Representatives. Barrow has stated that it will be, in his words, a good news budget, the best ever. We know so far that the teachers will be getting a five percent increase, but the specific figures for the […]
Last Friday, we reported on the laying off of fifty-seven workers at the Golden Princess Casino in Corozal. Employees of the gambling den were let go in the wake of a decline in business near the Belize/Mexico Border. Today, there are more persons without jobs up north to add to the unemployment lines. News Five […]
The Statistical Institute of Belize held its second press conference for this year. Today, S.I.B. released the figures for G.D.P. and inflation rate. In short, S.I.B. confirms that the basket of food rose sharply in 2013 as compared to 2012; by as much as four percent. But to get to the grocery stores transportation costs […]
The cost per hundred pound cylinder of butane or liquid petroleum gas is on the rise yet again, as prices across the country have inched a few dollars higher. The new adjustments came into effect on Saturday. In Belize City, the price is now a hundred and twenty-eight dollars; Belmopan and San Ignacio, a hundred […]
