And as the Government prepares to cut its losses at D.F.C., this morning Belmopan’s new point man on financial affairs, Minister of National Development Mark Espat, spoke of the Musa administration’s plan to create a banking institution similar to the now bankrupt agency. The idea is to ensure that students and entrepreneurs have access to […]
As for the latest on the progress of Belize’s billon dollar bond offer, today Espat told the press that with the National Assembly’s approval of the proposal, the ball is now in the creditors’ court. Mark Espat
Viewers anxiously awaiting the resumption of the public hearings of the Commission of Inquiry investigating the Development Finance Corporation will have to wait a little longer. That’s the word from the commissioners tonight in announcing that sessions scheduled for this week have been postponed. According to Commissioner Merlene Bailey Martinez, several factors have influenced the […]
Today’s meeting of the House of Representatives at the National Assembly in Belmopan may have come with short notice, but the session was not short of debate as both sides discussed the Musa administration’s latest attempt of dealing with Belize’s debt. News Five’s Janelle Chanona reports. Janelle Chanona, Reporting The first topic on the table […]
The government of Belize has made public its latest offer to its international creditors. The proposal involves the creation of “new bonds” that will be exchanged for existing commercial debt. Essentially the idea is to stretch out the payment schedule–to twenty-two years–and lower the interest rate–in this case four point two-five percent for the first […]
His appointment has come extremely late in the game but the Commission of Inquiry into the activities of the Development Finance Corporation finally has a forensic auditor. According to a government release, accountant Mark Hulse has been formally engaged to investigate D.F.C. transactions from 1999 through 2004 as they relate to the Commission’s work. News […]
To jumpstart the tourism season, hoteliers from across Belize made an unusual offer: they gave away free four day stays at their establishments to anyone who registered online at the Belize Tourism Industry Association website. All participants had to do was pay airfare to the Phillip Goldson International Airport and pre-book the hotel of their […]
The public hearings of the D.F.C. Commission of Inquiry will resume … but they will be forced to pack a lot of testimony into a very short time span. According to a release from the Commission there will only be five more public sessions, which will take place on December twelfth, fourteenth, nineteenth, twentieth and […]
Hotels are the backbone of Belize’s tourism industry and today the organisation that represents that part of our economy held its annual general meeting. News Five’s Kendra Griffith reports. Kendra Griffith, Reporting According to President Miriam Roberson, 2006 was a busy year for B.H.A. Miriam Roberson, President Belize Hotel Association
If somebody told you that government was passing out cash, you’d probably laugh … and think that an election was coming. And if they told you the office passing out the blue notes was the Tax Department you’d likely go into cardiac arrest from shock. Well get ready for the ambulance because, according to News […]
The work of the Commission of Inquiry into the Development Finance Corporation will continue without Chairman David Price. That’s the word from commissioners Herbert Lord and Merlene Bailey Martinez, who, with the approval of the Prime Minister, will act as co-chairs. Public hearings, which have been suspended since November first due to the illness of […]
Following this morning’s ceremony, we took the opportunity to ask the Prime Minister how negotiations are proceeding with Belize’s international creditors. According to the P.M. efforts to “re-profile” government’s billion U.S. dollar debt are going “reasonably well”. Prime Minister Said Musa ?The creditors need to be assured that they will get paid yes, but also […]
It’s a pillar of Belize’s economy and today the people at the helm of the nation’s tourism industry met to talk shop and choose new leaders. Jacqueline Godwin reports. Jacqueline Godwin, Reporting Today, the new board of the Belize Tourism Industry Association was installed during B.T.I.A.?s twenty-first annual general meeting. Outgoing president Lucy Fleming says […]
In today’s global financial system exports are the lifeblood of a nation’s economy. Just where Belize fits in to this reality was the subject of a meeting today at Old Belize. News Five’s Janelle Chanona reports. Janelle Chanona, Reporting This morning, the Belize Trade and Investment Development Service organized a one day symposium for local […]
You didn’t necessarily have to smoke to participate but it certainly helped one resident of the Cayo district win some pretty cool household appliances. Jackie Godwin explains. Jacqueline Godwin, Reporting According to company officials, there were seven hundred and eighty thousand entries in the Caribbean Tobacco?s Home Sweet Home Sweepstakes ? which why San Ignacio […]
In related news, today three other Belizeans also claimed their prizes in another local promotion, this time organized by Scotia Bank. Jacqueline Godwin, Reporting For the past month and a half, Scotia Bank Belize has been holding a promotional event designed to improve customer service. Josie Andrews, Sales/Marketing, Scotia Bank Belize Limited ?We are a […]
Tonight the Belize City Council is seeing red after the Director of Public Prosecutions informed them by letter on Wednesday that criminal charges will not be filed against former P.U.P. Mayor David Fonseca. Via telephone this afternoon D.P.P. Kirk Anderson explained that the allegations of theft could not be confirmed. Under the law, theft is […]
In a correction to a story broadcast on Wednesday, News Five has been informed that the Senate has passed legislation regarding the income tax on the oil industry. According to Conrad Lewis, Clerk of the National Assembly, on October twenty-fourth the Senate essentially agreed with the bill proposed by the House of Representatives of a […]
The Senate may still be trying to decide exactly how much income tax oil producers should be paying, but that has not stopped Cabinet from approving a plan on what to do with whatever cash they collect. According to a release from the Prime Minister’s office, legislation is being prepared to establish the Belize Petroleum […]
But while B.T.L. was scoring a few points with students, the rest of Belize was expressing serious concerns about the company’s attempts to limit competition, particularly in the area of VOIP, those voice over internet protocols that allow consumers to access cheap phone service over the internet. To B.T.L. boss, Dean Boyce, the controversy is […]
A few years back it was a topic of major controversy but the issue of a new cruise terminal on Belize City’s south side has receded in the public consciousness as numerous promises of construction activity have failed to materialise. That may be changing however as some of the regulatory hurdles facing the project are […]
While Johnny Briceño addressed the soldiers in his role as Deputy Prime Minister, he put on his Minister of Natural Resources hat to comment on the oil situation. Viewers may recall that several months ago government raised the income tax on profits from petroleum exploration from twenty-five to forty percent. At the time the directors […]
The public hearings of the Commission of Inquiry looking at the Development Finance Corporation, only just reconvened on October twenty-fourth following a two month recess, have once again been derailed due to the illness of Chairman David Price. According to an official release, the hearings have been suspended until further notice. No details regarding Price’s […]
Things were relatively quiet at today’s public hearings as members of the Commission of Inquiry sought to find out exactly what the D.F.C.’s outside auditors knew about the inner workings of the corporation. News Five’s Janelle Chanona reports. Janelle Chanona, Reporting Today?s public hearing of the Development Finance Corporation took an administrative turn with the […]
With the first fruits of what should be Belize’s most profitable crop now being processed, the biggest question in the Stann Creek Valley is: who will own the Citrus Company? On Saturday a special general meeting of the Citrus Growers Association gathered to finally make that decision. News Five’s Stewart Krohn reports. Stewart Krohn, Reporting […]
