It employs a significant number of people, particularly in Belize City, and while it is debatable how much cash the cruise ship industry really leaves in the country, there is no more debate on whether or not we want cruise tourists in Belize. Instead, the issue has shifted to making their experience as mutually satisfying […]
One week after fuel prices jumped by more than fifty cents at the pump, Belmopan has announced a four dollar increase in the price of butane. The new rates take effect on Saturday with a hundred pound cylinder selling for a hundred and twenty-two dollars in Belize City, one twenty four in Belmopan and San […]
You don’t have to be a taxi driver to know that whatever you’re driving, the price to fill up the tank has never been higher. Ten fifty-nine for a gallon of premium, ten forty-five for regular, nine seventy-two for kerosene and nine sixty-one for diesel, the crucial fuel which propels the economy. And while government […]
Belize Electricity Limited and the Public Utilities Commission continue to buck heads tonight over the power company’s request for an increase in rates. On Friday, the P.U.C. announced that even though certain figures were adjusted during the Annual Review Proceeding of B.E.L., in the end, no changes would be made in the prices paid by […]
If you’ve been watching international news reports lately, you would have seen that the world price of oil has been steadily increasing so it’s no surprise that those hikes have trickled down to local gas stations … but just because you saw it coming doesn’t make it any less painful. Brace yourself. Premium is now […]
It doesn’t come as a much of a surprise but according to the Public Utilities Commission, the public’s response to Belize Electricity Limited’s request for a rate increase is a big fat “No!”. According to a press release issued by the P.U.C., three hundred and fifty written comments were sent in as part of the […]
It doesn’t come as much of a surprise but beginning on Monday the price of Belize’s favourite source of protein is going up. According to a release from the Belize Poultry Association, the wholesale price of whole dressed chicken will rise from two dollars and six cents per pound to two dollars and eighteen cents. […]
With oil prices hitting one hundred and fifteen U.S. dollars per barrel and the record high cost of imported fuels wreaking havoc on Belize’s economy, the P.M. earlier this week announced that he will be seeking some compensation in the form of a windfall profits tax on Belize’s domestic oil production—at this point consisting solely […]
On yesterday’s newscast we reported a late afternoon government press release announcing a drastic forty-two percent rise in the price of flour. The release was not particularly clear and did not explain the implications of the increases for consumers. Today, the situation remains confused as consumers stock up on existing supplies and prepare for even […]
There is no shortage of news tonight, including a major political showdown, but we’ll lead with a late evening announcement from the government declaring a major jump in the price of flour. The press release is confusing and we were unable to contact press secretary Delroy Cuthkelvin for clarification but it appears that the wholesale […]
And no trip abroad, particularly to a meeting of the Interamerican Development Bank, would be complete without an account of future financial assistance. During his election campaign, candidate Barrow claimed that upon his taking office, the multilateral funding agencies would welcome him with open arms. According to the P.M., they did not disappoint. Prime Minister […]
The announcement comes as no surprise but developments this afternoon have confirmed speculation that efforts by the Barrow administration to have the Belize Bank return the ten million U.S. dollars gifted to Belize from Venezuela will be decided in a long legal fight. According to the Prime Minister’s Press Secretary, Delroy Cuthkelvin, on Friday the […]
On yesterday’s newscast we looked at conditions in Belize’s poultry industry, noting that producers say it will be difficult to hold down prices in the face of increased costs of feed, fuel, and fertilizer. Tonight, after speaking with people involved in the production of flour and baked goods, it appears that higher prices are also […]
The Caribbean Development Bank is a major player in Belize’s economic development, providing loans and grants for projects ranging from large scale infrastructure to grass roots poverty alleviation. This week meetings will be held in Belize City for C.D.B. member countries and other nations who finance the bank’s Special Development Fund. That fund provides much […]
Belizean consumers took another hit at the gas pump today as prices for fuel have gone up again. Premium is selling at ten dollars a gallon, regular now retails at nine dollars and ninety cents and diesel is a whopping nine dollars and eight cents. The new rates took effect at midnight on Sunday. The […]
Less than a week after it was formally denied a fifteen percent rate increase, Belize Electricity Limited has submitted a new price hike request to the Public Utilities Commission for a slightly lower amount. Whereas B.E.L. had asked for an additional six point five cents per kilowatt hour as part of its Threshold Event Review, […]
Those are the technicalities, but what about the politics? The Barrow administration talked big, saying it intends to decrease electricity rates by as much as fifty percent and will make legislative amendments to achieve that objective. It’s an assertion that begs the question: “Is the P.U.C. a consumer watchdog or a government lackey?” Roberto Young, […]
As the request for higher electricity rates by the country’s monopoly provider continues to dominate public debate, today the Government weighed in on the matter. During a press briefing this morning, the Prime Minister’s Press Secretary, Delroy Cuthkelvin, announced that the Barrow administration has already revoked SI 141 of 2007 which had allowed the company […]
Following the Public Utilities Commission’s announcement on Friday, that the Belize Electricity Limited will not be granted an increase in electricity rates, this morning the P.U.C. held a press briefing to explain its decision. According to the commission’s Chairman Alberto Young, three indicators weighed heavily on the final ruling. Topping the list is that the […]
It’s been a hot topic on the talk show circuit but late this afternoon word out of the Public Utilities Commission is that an application by Belize Electricity Limited to raise rates has been disapproved. According to a press release from the P.U.C., the regulatory body has concluded that: “1. B.E.L. can meet and satisfy […]
In the wake of an announcement by Belize Electricity Limited that the company is applying for a fifteen percent increase in the cost of power, Belizeans have been voicing their objections on the nation’s airwaves … and to the Public Utilities Commission. In a press release issued by the P.U.C., at the close of the […]
The new Prime Minister may have pledged to bring down the cost of fuel but, as many politicians have learned the hard way, talk is cheaper than petroleum. Saying that government is absorbing half the latest increase in acquisition costs, a press office release has announced that effective Sunday premium gasoline rose to nine ninety-five […]
If you have been watching U.S. television news you would have noticed that Americans, long bedeviled by a seemingly endless war in Iraq, having something else worry about: the economy. And rightly so. With the dollar at an all time low against the Euro and other currencies, the price of oil at an all time […]
When we last visited the case of the missing money there was a standoff between the governor of the Central Bank—who told the Belize Bank, under threat of criminal sanctions, to hand over the Venezuelan U.S. ten million—and the Belize Bank, which said the Central Bank’s directive was unlawful and void. For the last two […]
The latest episode of the missing money scandal has the Central Bank officially doing what Prime Minister Dean Barrow promised to do last week: that is demanding the return of ten million U.S. dollars from the Belize Bank. According to a press release from the Central Bank, it has issued two directives to the Belize […]
