Preliminary results of the April 2013 Labor Force Survey conducted by the Statistical Institute of Belize show that the national unemployment rate has decreased. Compared to 2012, the rate has gone from fourteen point four percent to twelve point one percent. This represents a fall in the number of persons without a job from about […]
Representatives from fourteen Mexican companies are in Belize as part of a trade mission organized by the Trade and Investment Mexican Agency, ProMexico and the Mexican Embassy. The delegation is meeting with their Belizean counterparts in order to identify potential buyers and suppliers for their products and services, but also to identify Belizean products which […]
The Caribbean Growth Forum was launched this morning. It is a collaboration of private and public sectors. Three areas for dialogue including: Investment Climate; Logistics and Connectivity; and Skills and Productivity were discussed at the launch. The business group examined the relevance of sustainable growth in Belize and how the forum will support the government’s […]
And if the mood today seemed jubilant, there was good reason. Last year’s crop season was considered an exception one, with unprecedented production and quality of cane. And this year’s figures are even more impressive. That is cause for much excitement among the five thousand six hundred cane-farmers, the association which governs them and Belize […]
Three weeks ago, the Moody’s Investors Service reported that the government’s bond rating of C-A-A was likely to remain the same for the next four or five years because of the two debt defaults in the past seven years coupled with the country’s low debt tolerance and weak ability to service external debt. Moody’s put […]
On Thursday, several students of the University of Belize held a press conference at which they levied accusations at the institution. The students say that UB is overcharging students from the Bachelor’s Program for Associate Level courses which they must re-take when the school, seemingly without reason, does not accept credits for courses taken in […]
The University of Belize is the only educational institution in Belize which offers degree programs at both the Associates and Bachelor’s levels, and each year enrollment grows. But the institution has not been without its fair share of hiccups, drama and outright controversy. Even now, there is still tension between the office of the President, […]
There is more gas pain to report on tonight as the cost per gallon of diesel will increase by thirty-two cents at midnight. Motorists will now be paying ten dollars and twenty-three cents, up from nine dollars and ninety-one cents per gallon. While the cost of diesel is on the rise, the price per gallon […]
Prime Minister Dean Barrow had a lot to say on Monday in his hour and half presentation…some of it positive and some of it not so positive. One particular item which falls into the ‘positive’ category is the National Bank of Belize Limited. The P.M. says the bank already has a Board of Directors, a […]
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) concluded its yearly review of Belize’s economy on April eighteenth, 2013. This exercise began in November, 2012 and is carried out with guidance from IMF’s Article Four. Three major recommendations are covered by the Mission: output growth, debt and debt management, and measures to strengthen Belize’s external position. First, on […]
Belize is establishing its first credit report system that when completed, financial institutions will be able to share credit information and improve on lending risks. The Central Bank is with support of the Canadian International Development Agency. News Five’s Jose Sanchez reports. Jose Sanchez, Reporting The International Finance Corporation is assisting Belize to develop […]
A national project spearheaded by the Caribbean Development Bank’s Basic Needs Trust Fund was launched today in Belize City. Present for the occasion is Darran Newman-Belgrave, Portfolio Manager for (Basic Needs Trust Fund) BNTF’s Social Sector Division. Speaking at the gathering was Minister of State in the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development Santiago Castillo. […]
There is some good news tonight that will affect households across the country. The price of butane is going down significantly effective this Wednesday. A release from the Supplies Control Unit says that prices are going down by three dollars when you buy a hundred pound cylinder. The lowest prices are for Belize City and […]
The debate on the 2013-2014 budget lasted a full two days, closing late on Friday. There was a noticeable lessening of the venom and vitriol which has become characteristic of every House session, but there was very spirited commentary offered on the budget presented by Prime Minister Dean Barrow which was passed by the House […]
After six o’clock this evening, the budget debate concluded in the House of Representatives. The budget for the new financial year starting April first, calls for nine hundred and thirty-four million dollars in spending and eight hundred and seventy one point seven million dollars in revenue and grants; a deficit of sixty-two million point two […]
While the budget debate took place in the House of Representatives, in the boardroom of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the budget was also analyzed. The Chamber’s contributions are contained in a letter to the Prime Minister. It notes that while spending has increased by seventy-two million dollars more than last year, and there […]
The 2013-2014 budget debate took place in the House this morning. The Speaker called for good behavior and by and large House members were in true form restraining from the usual mudslinging. But he would note later during the presentations that few members had actually referred to the estimates. The Leader of the Opposition, Francis […]
No press conference held by Prime Minister Dean Barrow on any matter related to the economy would be complete without an attack on Lord Michael Ashcroft. The Prime Minister on Wednesday announced the terms of the restructured debt of the Belize bond 2038 and again Ashcroft’s name came up. According to the PM the restructured […]
On Wednesday the Prime Minister did not give a specific figure on the money spent on the restructuring of the Belize Bond 2038 but he did admit it is “astronomical.” Because the super bond as it was called, has been on the books for some time, we checked the 2013/2014 estimates to see if there […]
In November of 2012 there was a major blow up between GOB and the IDB after Belize’s application for policy-based loans was blocked by the US Treasury. Prime Minister Barrow was infuriated…so much so that he attacked IDB President Luis Alberto Moreno and called him a coward for bowing to the wishes of the US […]
The much condemned and now newly minted super-bond is now the Belize Bond 2038, a done deal with a majority of bondholders signing on and the balance will follow suit under a collective action clause. The numbers have been thrown about since last week, but today Prime Minister Dean Barrow was all smiles as he […]
At his press conference of the Belize Bond 2038, the PM said the terms of the restructuring of the five hundred and thirty million US dollars bond is cause for celebration and jubilation. But it also calls for glaring scrutiny of the prudent fiscal management in maintaining the sustainability of the national debt. To this […]
The budget debate for the 2013-2014 financial year which begins April first, takes place next week in the House of Representatives. When the proceedings get underway, the opposition will be presenting its official position to the estimates that were introduced to the House on March first. But before that happens, we have been looking at […]
Earlier in the newscast we told you about the Prime Minister’s celebration over the Belize Bond 2038. But at the press conference, the media raised the matter of the cost of the restructuring, including legal fees, payment to advisors and payments to the renegotiating team. Prime Minister Dean Barrow did not come up with an […]
Still on the restructuring, Ambassador Mark Espat is the head of the team which worked on the debt restructuring with bondholders that resulted in the Belize Bond 2038. Espat was also an integral part of the team which, under the previous administration in 2007 negotiated what has been dubbed the super-bond. Today, he compared the […]
