It was announced on Thursday that butane prices would take a huge dip of thirty dollars per hundred pound cylinder. The higher prices are for the LPG Imported from Mexico while the lower priced butane is imported from Central America. The Ministry of Trade and Consumer Protection says that in Belize City and Corozal, butane […]
There is some good news to report tonight that will bring major relief to the pockets of Belizeans. Effective this Friday, the retail price of butane will be reduced by a whopping thirty dollars per hundred pound cylinder. Yes you heard right… a reduction of thirty dollars. The hundred pound cylinder of butane will now […]
We’ll have more of that discussion with the C.E.O. of the Ministry of Health on Monday. But the burning issue of the week continues to be the budget. The annual budget debate for the current fiscal year concluded shortly after seven o’clock on Thursday night following a protracted discussion during which allocations and government expenditure […]
Day two of the annual budget debate continued today inside the House of Representatives, where members from both sides of the floor scrutinized the fiscal budget for 2012-2013. By far, the most engaging exchange took place this afternoon between Caribbean Shores Area Representative, Santino Castillo and the member for Cayo South, Julius Espat. Espat, in […]
While the twenty-five scholarship recipients are looking to bank managers for some guidance, hopefully they haven’t seen or heard the name calling that occurred earlier today in the House by the elected representatives. The moratorium on Rosewood harvesting also became a subject for discussion in the House. The suspension, which came into effect on April […]
The Prime Minister read the 2012/2013 budget on June twenty-ninth. It has been called everything including austere, spartan, slim and disciplined. Today in parliament, elected representatives from the government and Opposition squared off and took turns either applauding or shredding the budget. Prime Minister Dean Barrow, Opposition Leader Francis Fonseca and former P.M. Said Musa […]
Minister of National Security John Saldivar, addressed the House following the Leader of the Opposition’s presentation. However, he did not mention the cost of anti-crime measures and the financial resources that government has set aside for national security despite an increase of about a million dollars. As it stands, there have been seventy-five homicides since […]
The budget debate continues on Thursday. And while much has been said about the re-alignment of funds within the education budget, Minister of Education Patrick Faber announced during his presentation that primary and secondary school teachers in the Stann Creek District will also benefit from approximately two hundred and fifty thousand dollars which have been […]
Normally, an official release would be sent regarding House meetings and though this Wednesday and Thursday’s budget debate is expected to bring out some fiery exchange between the two parties, strangely no release has been sent by the press office. Nonetheless, News Five will cover the verbal assaults and the budget debate extensively. But tonight, […]
The 2012/2013 budget will be debated shortly. News Five has spoken to an analyst who has delved into the details of the budget book. In the series presented by the analyst called “Know Your Budget”, the expert says that there is key emphasis that Belize’s economy is export driven. This means we depend largely on […]
As have been identified per budget for fiscal year 2011/2012 versus fiscal year 2012/2013, there are some significant cuts have been done to the key high priority areas of pro poor policies and poverty reduction and social protection. Our analyst continues with another examination of the now dubbed disciplined budget. Other significant sources of revenues […]
No one will be charged with attempted murder for the largest bond that weighs heavily on the government. The Superbond contains two Bear Stearns bonds, a US one hundred and twenty-five million dollar Bond and a US one hundred million dollar Bond; one from the R.B.T.T. Merchant Bank Limited for US seventy-six million dollars and […]
A recent strategy report prepared for Institutional Investors by Fixed Income Strategists of Scotia Capital (U.S.A.) Incorporated discussed the implications of the Superbond and the budget presentation to offer to investors. In short, the title says that the Belize budget provides little clarity. The delay in releasing the budget had coincided with the government’s reassessment […]
Following on our first analysis of the presentation of the Prime Minister’s disciplined budget, we take another closer look at the numbers. Pro Poor policies such as social protection and poverty alleviation are one of the key priorities of the Government as stated in the Budget proposal Fiscal year 2011/2012. The four key areas are […]
The national budget for 2012-2013 was tabled in the House of Representatives last Friday; it is one of fiscal discipline says the Prime Minister. It also has a deficit of seventy-five point two million dollars. That translates into two point four percent which is the difference from total revenue of eight hundred and sixty-two million, […]
The delayed national budget was tabled in the House of Representatives this morning. The forty two page document delivered by the Prime Minister is themed “Exercising Discipline while Preserving Growth.” On the expenditure side, the P.M. says there will be no increase over last year which means that we will generally see a continuation of […]
The P.M. says that the budget is not austere, but to swap words it is certainly spartan. He signaled the need for everyone to tighten their belts ahead because the country does face declining oil revenues, increased interest and amortization payments for the Superbond and he referred to “exercising a heightened level of fiscal discipline […]
The P.M. says that provisions are also being made for support to alternative education, especially the community resource centers in the south side of Belize City, and, the ITVET. The National Health Insurance programme will also continue and funds have been to the upgrade of the Toledo District Highway to the Guatemalan Border. But the […]
The Opposition side this term is robust with fifteen parliamentarians, some who made their maiden intervention today. While the budget will be debated on July twelfth and thirteenth, we got an early reaction from the Opposition side when we caught up with former Leader of the Opposition and current Orange Walk Central Area Representative John […]
And now back to the budget, a large part of the public debt is still undecided as the cost of nationalizing Belize Telemedia Limited and Belize Electricity Limited has not been worked out. Now that both utility companies are government properties, Barrow says that B.T.L. is investing fifty-one million dollars in capital improvements this year, […]
This Friday, the House of Representatives will convene for the first time since the March general elections. There will be a stronger Opposition across the aisle so the budget debate is expected to be fierce. At Friday’s sitting Prime Minister Dean Barrow will table the national budget. The PM has already warned of an austerity […]
While cuts are anticipated in government expenditure, in the tourism industry the GST is expected to be introduced to replace the hotel tax. But stakeholders are not complaining. Since its introduction several years ago, hoteliers were exempted from charging GST on goods and services; instead, guests had to pay a nine percent hotel accommodation fee […]
The special audit of the Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital (K.H.M.H.) has been completed. A former employee became a whistleblower alleging improper procurement practices of supplies and drugs and irregular uses of the KHMH credit card and contracts to international companies. The Prime Minister ordered the audit following the allegations made by Delroy Herrera. The areas […]
The Belize Chamber of Commerce & Industry says that it welcomes the Government’s assurance that there will not be any tax increases in the presentation of the upcoming budge, notwithstanding, pressures from the International Monetary Fund on the need to service the country’s debt obligation. The Chamber says that it is welcomed despite the nation’s […]
On the financial front, Prime Minister Dean Barrow, will be presenting the national budget to the House of Representatives this Friday. The PM says we can expect an austerity budget; there is already a thirty million dollar deficit from oil revenue shortfalls. According to a report by Reuters news agency, the government has set aside […]
