Since the usurping of B.E.L. and Telemedia a month ago, there have been questions and concerns about other companies including Port of Belize Limited that might find themselves in government’s crosshairs. Among the many questions is whether GOB will move towards nationalizing the fledgling oil industry, which is seen by some as the answer to […]
There have been recent downgrades of Belize’s credit rating by two U.S.-based financial-services agencies, that’s Moody’s Investors Service and Standard and Poor’s. The latest demotion came last week from S&P. The news is a blow to the already weak economy and may have been lost in debate on the ninth amendment. S&P says that the […]
The lowering of S&P credit ratings on larger economies such as Italy, Greece, Spain and most notably the United States have caused havoc; in fact in the US, it created panic and the worst plunge in years in the stock market. That is expected to have immense far-reaching impact. The ripple effect will undoubtedly be […]
There’s dire economic news tonight. The warning came shortly after the nationalization of Belize Electricity Limited and today Standard and Poor’s officially decreased Belize’s credit rating. The foreign currency credit score was downgraded from a B to B minus. According to S&P, by acquiring a seventy percent stake in the financially distressed utility company, government […]
In the last few months we told you about the surplus of onions, but rice has also been produced in excess. In April of this year the Belize Marketing Development Corporation (BMDC) announced that they would be purchasing approximately two million pounds less than they did in 2010 because of an existing surplus. It’s a […]
The Belize Workers Union met with Prime Minister Dean Barrow at his Coney Drive office this afternoon to discuss the issue of shares it holds in the debt-burdened Belize Sugar Industries (B.S.I.). The employees trust currently owns eighty-one percent of the company, despite not having received dividends for investments in over ten years. With the […]
The fate of the sugar industry has been the subject of several high level meetings over the past week. The Honduras based Banco Atlántida has proposed a buyout of majority shares in the Belize Sugar Industry, an investment of ninety million US dollars that could make the difference to keep the mill grinding. Who controls […]
The employees trust comprises the Belize Workers Union, which owns eighty-one percent of Belize Sugar Industries Ltd. The union is led by Harris Patten and it is holding a special meeting with Prime Minister Dean Barrow on Wednesday afternoon to discuss the issue of shares its membership owns in the beleaguered company. Patten says that […]
On Friday afternoon, Prime Minister Dean Barrow along with officials from the Belize Sugar Cane Farmers Association met with a delegation from Banco Atlantida to discuss the purchase of the financially embattled B.S.I. The Honduras based bank has an interest in acquiring majority shares in the company which is owned by the employees’ trust that […]
A marketing committee has been appointed by the Ministry of Agriculture to tackle the cross border sugar trade that has been causing a shortage in local stores. According to a release, the committee includes representatives from the ministry, B.S.I. and the Belize Sugar Cane Farmers Association. The task is to work along with the Bureau […]
A deal is being worked out with Banco Atlantida of Honduras to acquire controlling shares in Belize Sugar Industries at Tower Hill. The sale of the factory is under consideration because of its current financial woes. As it is B.S.I. is currently in the hole for some forty million dollars that it owes to both […]
Earlier you heard the exchange in the House about Banco Atlantida’s proposal to buy majority shares in the Belize Sugar Industries that is cash strapped and unable to meet loan commitments. That deal is still on the table but there is another matter that is causing frustration to consumers. That’s because this sugar cane crop […]
The reason for the smuggling of sugar across the borders is because the sweet stuff is more expensive in the neighboring countries and offers agents a bigger profit margin. One suggestion is to increase the price of the sugar locally, making it less attractive to the Mexican and Guatemalan businessmen. According to Gough, it’s worked […]
Banco Atlántida of Honduras has been doing its due diligence since January 2011 to acquire the Belize Sugar Industries (B.S.I.). The factory is broke and needs forty million dollars to pay loans to the ING Group and FirstCaribbean Bank. A meeting is scheduled for Friday following the Special House sitting between the Prime Minister, the […]
But the United Cane Farmers Association, which won a court ruling in favor of separation from Belize Sugar Cane Farmers Association (BSFCA), says that they have not had any discussions with the PM nor have they been invited to meet with the bank. Via Phone: Wilfredo ‘Willie’ Magana, Chairman, United Cane Farmers Association “I had […]
There are only a few hours left to fill up your tanks before the prices of fuel at the pump take another hike. Premium gasoline is going up to eleven dollars and eighty-eight cents per gallon. Meanwhile, regular goes back over the eleven dollar mark and will now sell at eleven dollars and forty-two cents. […]
It lay quietly under the news radar until it was casually revealed in a newspaper interview about two weeks ago by B.T.L. Chairman, Net Vasquez. We’re talking about the fact that the Central Bank of Belize has purchased twenty million dollars worth of shares in B.T.L. because no one else was buying. But did Central […]
On Monday night we reported that the Belize Chamber of Commerce & Industry had forwarded a resolution to Prime Minister Dean Barrow calling on the government to obey the rule of law and to refrain from infringing people’s fundamental rights and freedoms. The Chamber’s Resolution also called on the government to ensure that compulsory acquisitions […]
Vanessa Peyrefitte The Belize Chamber of Commerce, the backbone of Belize’s business community is by far the group that most represents the lifeline of most sectors of the economy. Its membership has been recently vocal about the government’s acquisition of Belize Electricity Limited and the renationalization of Telemedia. On Friday, the majority of chamber members […]
Three powerhouses in the agriculture industry have sent a stern but emphatic message to the government regarding the state of the citrus and sugar industries. In symphony with the Belize Chamber of Commerce, the message is about government’s slow pace in obeying the rule of law. While it’s not about any nationalization, it deals with […]
Early this week, Carl Ross of Oppenheimer Funds warned that recent events in Belize appear unfavorable towards private enterprise, the rule of law, contracts and rights for private property. Ross also warned that there is trouble ahead due to the spiraling foreign debt. On Wednesday, Boris Segura of Nomura, a global investment banking and securities […]
A new report on the financial status of Belize has been written by a well known Financial Advisor of Oppenheimer and Company Incorporated. Carl Ross, the Managing Director of Investments at Oppenheimer has just concluded research on the ongoing fiscal strength of the economy in light of recent nationalizations that have sent the national foreign […]
Government, for the most part, has been stuck with shares in Telemedia since the company was first acquired in August 2009. There was an initial investment of fifty million dollars from Social Security and another four million dollars worth bought by ordinary Belizeans. The Central Bank has reportedly also acquired twenty million dollars worth. But […]
The Belize Sugar Industry has processed more sugar than it expected the local market to consume. But there are some consumers who insist that there is a sugar shortage and that stores are rationing the amount they sell. News Five spoke this afternoon to the marketing manager of BSI, Damian Gough, who says that BSI […]
The Belize Chamber of Commerce and Industry met in emergency meeting on Wednesday night. The Chamber and its president have already been flogged on the airwaves and in the House, by government for its views on the re-acquisition of Telemedia and the nationalization of Belize Electricity Limited. Notwithstanding, the membership of the influential private sector […]
