In a preview to Friday’s budget presentation the National Economic Council yesterday heard from the Financial Secretary and Governor of the Central Bank. According to a release from the Government Press Office, Governor Sydney Campbell reported that real G.D.P. growth for 2005 will come in at around three point one percent. Unemployment stood at eleven […]
Government’s budget will be presented on March seventeenth. That’s the word from Cabinet, which spent Tuesday reviewing the numbers. According to an official release, there will be no new tax measures other than the already passed ten percent G.S.T., which replaces the nine percent sales tax and enters into law on July first. The budget […]
The ceremony was brief and attendance was sparse … but for residents of Belmopan, today was a big deal. The occasion was the official opening of the new market, and as News Five?s Jacqueline Woods discovered, what began in controversy has ended in agreement. Francisca Mira, Vegetable Vendor “The space is more open we have […]
After months of stagnation, a thirty-five million dollar loan has been approved by the Social Security Board for the purchase of majority shares in Belize Water Services Limited by its management and staff. On Tuesday, after months of negotiation, the S.S.B. investment committee finalised an agreement with executives of the Belize Water Services Workers Union […]
Tourism: it’s been growing by leaps and bounds, with massive yearly increases in cruise passengers and record annual arrivals in overnight visitors. But all that progress has brought problems of sustainability and resource management. However, as government officials and industry partners met this morning for an annual presentation on the state of tourism in Belize, […]
In news from the oil front, today the Government of Belize has announced the appointment of a petroleum advisory board. Members are: Ismael Fabro, Dr. Carla Barnett, Hugh O’Brien, Cresencio Sosa, Andre Cho, Andrew Marshalleck, George Sosa, Eamon Courtenay, Lennox Neal and international oil expert Dr. Ram Ramanathan. According to a government release, the first […]
With its fund at over three hundred and fifteen million dollars and counting, the Belize Social Security Board stands as the undisputed financial goliath of the nation’s economy. Today that jolly green giant, whose recent history has been mired in controversy, paused to celebrate its twenty-fifth anniversary. News Five’s Stewart Krohn reports. Stewart Krohn, Reporting […]
Tonight the management and staff of Bowen and Bowen Limited, bottlers of Belikin beer are fighting mad. Recent investigations by the company have turned up restricted Mexican products as far inland as the Cayo district. Company officials tell News Five that since the recent increase in taxes on beer, the contraband trade has only escalated. […]
Consumers got a break in butane prices today as according to a press release from the Ministry of Finance the cost of a hundred pound cylinder has dropped six dollars countrywide. The new price tag now reads ninety dollars in Belize City, ninety-two in Belmopan, ninety-five in San Ignacio, ninety-six in Benque, ninety-one in Orange […]
Ever wonder where all that chicken we eat in Belize comes from? Today I found out. Janelle Chanona, Reporting Whether you like it fried, baked, or barbequed, chicken is what?s for breakfast, lunch and dinner in Belize. Local officials contend that every year Belizeans consume an average of ninety-six pounds of chicken per person. And […]
When we last checked in with Belize’s petroleum industry, a third well was being drilled at Spanish Lookout, not far from the first two successful strikes. Today the Geology and Petroleum Department has confirmed that this well, named Michael Usher Number Three, has also tapped into the same oil bearing formation, at a slightly deeper […]
Ever since the first significant petroleum find was made on July thirtieth of last year, Belize has been experiencing something of an oil frenzy. Never mind that the speculation has always run far ahead of the facts, beginning with the Belize Times shouting Eureka! almost before the drilling even started. But the gap between our […]
The Public Utilities Commission held a press briefing at the its Mahogany Street office this afternoon to explain the method behind the madness of a second price hike in six months for Belize Electricity Limited. While the P.U.C. pushed the usual arguments of fuel costs and more expensive Mexican power, chair Gilbert Canton asserted that […]
Belize’s biggest industry–tourism–is reacting negatively to the newly passed General Sales Tax. In a press release today, the Belize Tourism Industry Association, speaking in support of the hotel sector, said it did not accept the classification of exempt status under the G.S.T. legislation. Exempt status means that while hotel accommodations will not draw the ten […]
He dropped the bombshell of a request for increased electricity rates back on November fifteenth… and today it was formally announced by the Public Utilities Commission that B.E.L. Chief Executive Lynn Young got his New Year’s wish. The new prices, effective January first, average thirteen percent. And while Young has successfully cited the company’s increased […]
Officials from the Ministry of Finance, the Development Finance Corporation, and Atlantic Bank spent most of today in meetings to try and find a way to salvage operations at the Novelo’s Bus Line receivership and get back some of the millions of dollars the company owes its creditors. While there seems to have been no […]
As part of an ongoing public relations campaign, tax officials continue to hold meetings, appear on local talk shows, and answer emails, phone calls, and faxes from the business community on how the new levy will affect profit margins around the country. After a disappointing turnout last week, this morning it was a full house […]
They call themselves the GST team: a group of public officers from the Sales Tax, Income Tax, and Customs departments who have been charged with the mandate to tour the country in a series of informational meetings with the public on the new tax. Though some important kinks have yet to be ironed out in […]
Reports out of Belmopan tonight are that the price of butane has decreased significantly. The new rates for a hundred pound cylinder are: Belize City ninety-two dollars, Belmopan ninety-four, San Ignacio ninety-seven, Benque Viejo ninety-eight, Orange Walk ninety-three, Corozal ninety-two, Dangriga ninety-four, and Punta Gorda ninety-five dollars. The drop in prices represents a six dollar […]
With the General Sales Tax set for implementation next April, this week tax officials are hitting the road on a countrywide forum to explain the ins and outs of the new system. While government representatives maintain that the mechanism for the G.S.T. will be very similar to the Value Added Tax that was repealed in […]
The silence out of Spanish Lookout has been deafening, but tonight Belize Natural Energy announced that not only has the second oil well been drilled and completed, they’ve also handed over a cheque to the Government of Belize as per the royalty agreement. In a statement issued this evening, B.N.E. says the second well, named […]
Today officials of the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Cooperatives, and the Belize Tourism Industry Association gathered in Belize City as part of an overview of the Mesoamerican Cruise Tourism Industry survey. According to the organisers; tour guides, local hoteliers, tour operators, and government representatives have to work in tandem to: one, identify common problems, […]
It’s official, today Belize Electricity Limited served the Public Utilities Commission with an official request for higher rates. According to a press release issued to the media, B.E.L. is asking for an additional five point four cents per kilowatt hour. Company C.E.O. Lynn Young continues to maintain that the “financial integrity of B.E.L. is threatened […]
For the second time this month, fuel prices have actually gone down. The new prices at the pump are nine dollars and eight cents for premium, down eighteen cents from nine-twenty-six. Regular has gone from eight dollars and ninety-six cents to eight dollars and eighty-one cents. That’s a decrease of fifteen cents. Diesel has dropped […]
Bogus cheques and bills…believe it or not, advances in technology have made it easier than ever for criminals to create counterfeit money and go on a spending spree. Thankfully, the catch is that the process is so complex that most potential counterfeiters are deterred by the sheer number of special processes used to transform regular […]
