Barrow is hoping to institute the windfall tax as soon as possible to meet his budget projections, and plans to present legislation to the House soon enough. This morning the P.M. estimated how much G.O.B. hopes to gain when it comes on stream. Prime Minister Dean Barrow “We expect to collect, by way of the […]
The revenue from the windfall tax is good news for government and, according to Barrow, will assist in meeting the country’s external debt and other government programmes. But one of those unexpected payments is due soon. In 2005, a company named NEWCO sued the Musa administration for thirty-three million dollars for terminating an airport management […]
Prime Minister Barrow this morning presented his projections for the fiscal year 2008-2009. It is a budget that hit the past administration and now promises to restore fiscal sanity, to invest in the poor, and as he put it, to move forward his development agenda. It is a budget with a small deficit and G.D.P. […]
This coming Monday in Belmopan, the House of Representatives will meet to hear the long awaited budget presentation for the financial year 2008-2009. It is the first budget to be tabled by Prime Minister Dean Barrow, who will use the occasion to table a bill that it intends to ram through a second and third […]
Last week we reported that government had set up the Basic Commodities Commission to deal with the spiraling cost of living, but today consumers have been hit with a huge hike in the price of butane gas. The increase approved by Cabinet has sent butane up by a whopping seven dollars for a hundred pound […]
The budget for the financial year 2008-2009 is to be presented on July fourteenth, and already there are murmurings of displeasure among government ministers. Delayed because of the February seventh elections, the first budget to be presented by the Barrow administration is expected to be lean, mean and free of new taxes. Minister of Tourism, […]
Government this morning presented its plan to combat the rising costs in basic food items which are hitting Belizeans where it hurts the most … in the pockets. But as News Five’s Kendra Griffith reports, the work of the Basic Commodities Commission is ambitious and the real test will come in the actual monitoring of […]
This morning the Public Utilities Commission held a press conference to officially release its final decision on B.E.L.’s request for a rate increase. On Monday, the P.U.C. released a forty-four page document outlining the various price hikes B.E.L. requested and the eleven decisions taken by the Commission. Among them are: a raise in the Reference […]
One of the last things you wanted to hear today was that the world price of petroleum shot up again. Oil is now retailing for a one hundred and thirty-six U.S. a barrel, up two bucks from last night. The trickle down effect is of course higher prices, in fuel in the first instance, which […]
As we go to air tonight, Cabinet is yet to make an official release but word to our newsroom is that dramatic increases in the prices of flour and bread have been approved. Effective tomorrow, the price of bread is expected to go up by twenty-five cents with the promise of an additional twenty-five cents […]
Jumps in the cost of fuel are becoming so regular, consumers have gone from saying “Again!” to “how much now?” But the prices in effect as of today are startlingly reflective of a disturbing new reality. Premium gasoline will sell for eleven dollars and seventeen cents, up thirty-five cents. Regular jumped twenty-six cents to ten […]
It’s no secret that the Government of Prime Minister Dean Barrow is planning to use the revenues gleaned from the petroleum industry to buffer the dramatic rise in the cost of living and plug the financial holes in the 2008/2009 budget caused by the country’s significant public debt. In April the P.M. announced that one […]
When Belize Electricity Limited made its annual rate application, the company said skyrocketing oil prices mandated a thirteen point four percent increase in the price of power. The P.U.C., in an initial decision that may have had more to do with politics and public opinion than math, said an emphatic no to any rise in […]
Public consultation: the practice has become part of the lexicon of modern governance, right up there with the twin mantras of transparency and accountability. But if the past is any guide, the benefits of public consultations have been mixed, with the effort being more important than any knowledge or consensus achieved. That having been said, […]
It has just been posted on the internet and we hesitate to comment too extensively without reading all seventy-eight pages … but the report of the Independent Expert appointed to evaluate B.E.L.’s application for higher electricity rates has been submitted to the Public Utilities Commission. A quick glance indicates that while rate increases are recommended […]
The latest episode in our long running drama surrounding basic food items focuses once again on flour. We are informed by Belize Mills Limited that the long awaited shipment of wheat from Guatemala’s Pacific Coast port has finally arrived at the border and efforts are being made to clear the truck convoy through customs as […]
Rice remains in the news this week, with the latest development being that government has decided to import more than a million pounds through a dealer in Chetumal, Mexico. According to Managing Director of the Belize Marketing and Development Corporation Roque Mai, the first of three shipments is scheduled to arrive in Belize City tomorrow […]
We’ve been following the rice situation for a few weeks now, pointing out the intricacies of farming and marketing. We also noted that despite what government may say about price controls on the staple food, profiteering on the product is rampant. Today News Five’s Ann-Marie Williams went out shopping for proof. Many shops didn’t have […]
And if you’re not happy with the price or supply of rice, hold on because things are not any better with that other staple food: bread. Sources tell News Five that the Bakers Association, in meetings with government, is asking for a fifty cent increase in the control price of its sixteen ounce loaf, bringing […]
There is a saying usually attributed to U.S. president Theodore Roosevelt which says something to the effect of “speak softly, but carry a big stick.” We are dismayed to report tonight that government, when it comes to consumer protection, behaves just the opposite: it talks tough but doesn’t deliver. Case in point is yesterday’s announcement […]
One bit of good news coming out of the press conference this afternoon is that rice will soon be back on grocery shelves. According to Minister of Economic Development, Erwin Contreras, today Cabinet has decided to grant a price increase to the Blue Creek farmers, while his ministry intends to crack down on those who […]
Belize Electricity Limited has been making its case for months—first with a special application and shortly afterward under its annual rate review—that skyrocketing oil prices have necessitated an increase in electricity rates. On both occasions the Public Utilities Commission has stood steadfast against the requests. It’s not clear how much of the P.U.C.’s attitude was […]
The world price of petroleum went up again today, to one hundred and twenty-seven U.S. dollars a barrel. That means of course, that acquisition costs will go up yet again and push the pump prices of fuel even higher. While most Belizeans have endeavored to absorb the shock, tonight News Five’s Janelle Chanona introduces us […]
If you watch world news it will come as no surprise, but Belizean consumers should get ready for a rise in the price of rice. Reports to News Five indicate that negotiations now nearing completion between government and producers will push the retail price at least as high as a dollar-fifteen per pound and perhaps […]
It’s an industry that is spread over a wide geographic area, enjoys a constituency of relatively affluent and engaged stakeholders and has more or less been on a roll for the last two decades. So when a standing room only crowd gathered this morning to hear Prime Minister Dean Barrow’s take on tourism, it was […]
