The International Monetary Fund is recommending a stronger adjustment policy for Belize. News Five has obtained a leaked draft of what appears to be an authentic copy of an I.M.F. Staff Report for the Article IV Consultation. That document, being circulated to Executive Directors this week, says that while the Belizean economy grew at a […]
The Belize Chamber of Commerce and Industry is attempting to enhance its international profile, particularly with potential trading partners in the region. Today, it released a new video, which can be used at trade expositions and as a marketing tool by its members. The fifteen-minute documentary uses the beauty of Belize as its backdrop to […]
There is more good news for the Government of Belize tonight, this time in the form of debt relief, courtesy of the United Kingdom. The U.K. government announced today that under its ongoing Commonwealth Debt Initiative, one point five million pounds–roughly five million Belize dollars–of debt due for repayment in 2003-2004 will be written off […]
The midyear tourism statistics are out and–as we’ve come to expect–the numbers are up. According to the Belize Tourism Board, airport tourist arrivals for January through June rose ten percent over the same period in 2004, to just under one hundred and three thousand, while total overnight arrivals through all points of entry rose four […]
Still high from government’s resounding legal victory in Miami, Ministers Godfrey Smith and Francis Fonseca were determined not to let the news of an appeal by Jeffrey Prosser dampen G.O.B.’s good mood. During the weekly press briefing, the Cabinet members maintained that they are not surprised at Prosser’s decision. Godfrey Smith, Minister of Information “His […]
And while the B.T.L. saga might be winding down, another is just getting interesting. Following Government’s announcement last week that it will reacquire control of the country’s monopoly water provider, this afternoon Smith elaborated on the agreement that has been signed between G.O.B. and Cascal, majority owner of Belize Water Services Limited. Godfrey Smith “The […]
It was one of those marriages that looked doomed from the start… and after four years of acrimony, the Belize government and Belize Water Services Limited have finally called it quits. That’s right, according to a G.O.B. press release, the government will be repurchasing the utility–for the same price at which it was sold. Under […]
They’ve sued the Government of Belize for millions, invoked arbitration clauses in search of millions more, and threatened to use their pull in the U.S. Congress and White House to punish the Musa administration even further. You’d think that by this time U.S. wheeler-dealer and hard pay artist Jeffrey Prosser would take a rest while […]
This morning during brief ceremonies at the Princess Hotel, the fourth annual Made in the U.S.A. Expo was launched by officials of the United States Embassy in Belize. According to President of the American Chamber of Commerce of Belize, Maria Elena Sylvestre, the event provides an opportunity for local importers to showcase the American goods […]
If you have become increasingly confused by all the different corporate entities used by Michael Ashcroft in his bid for control of Belize Telecommunications Limited, get ready to add another to the list. In a press release issued to the international financial community, Carlisle Holdings Limited, Ashcroft’s flagship conglomerate, has announced that it is “demerging” […]
On yesterday’s broadcast we reported the optimism expressed over the discovery of oil in the Cayo District. That was good news that may or may not translate into economic benefits for Belize. Hopefully it will because on the same day the drillers found black gold, the market for what was once called green gold was […]
Today’s big story from the meeting of the House of Representatives in Belmopan was supposed to be new legislation that would allow the Public Utilities Commission to intervene in the B.T.L. dispute. But that prediction was made before Prime Minister Said Musa opened the meeting with some startling news. Prime Minister Said Musa ?Currently Belize […]
And speaking of censure, Jeffrey Prosser’s high powered legal and P.R. team wasted no time in denouncing Belmopan’s actions in the most sinister terms… and made their usual set of threats, this time in a telephone press conference. Lanny Davis, I.C.C. Attorney ?We have reports that the government of Belize intends to act lawlessly in […]
At the end of last week, Tourism Minister Godfrey Smith led a twelve member delegation to Miami for a meeting with the Florida Caribbean Cruise Association. That body, a trade organisation representing fourteen cruise lines operating between the U.S. and Caribbean, was anxious to see where Belize, one of the region’s fastest growing cruise destinations, […]
Yesterday’s top story involved the signing of an agreement to construct a hundred million dollar cruise terminal in Belize City. One day later, we lead with news that contracts have been signed for a forty million dollar expansion of the Philip Goldson International Airport in Ladyville. There are four components to the project. The first […]
It languished in development limbo for over a year, but as of ten o’clock this morning, mammoth Carnival Corporation and local company Belize Ports Limited–with the government’s enthusiastic blessing–have signed the deal for a new fifty million U.S. dollar cruise terminal in Belize City. This evening at a hastily called press conference attended by Minister […]
The case for judicial review of the contract between Carnival Cruise Lines and Government brought by the Belize Tourism Industry Association was adjourned indefinitely several months ago…and the fifty million dollar project to build a cruise terminal in Port Loyola likewise seemed to have gone into hibernation. But guess what: it woke up. According to […]
The blame game continued in Belmopan today, as the Special Senate Select Committee conducted its sixth public hearing in its investigation into the investment portfolio of the Belize Social Security Board. Appearing before the senators for their second time were securitization manager Ian McMillan and S.S.B.’s financial director Rolando Zetina; as well as first timers, […]
As if the Social Security Board didn’t have enough to worry about, we are informed this week that another one of its major loans has gone bad. A notice in last weekend’s Amandala indicates that a receiver has been appointed for no less than seven companies operating in Toledo, all controlled by controversial Danish businessman […]
Belize may have dodged a bullet with Hurricane Emily, but the storm was not without impact on Belize’s economy. We’re talking cruise ships, or rather, their absence. According to the manager of the Fort Street Tourism Village, James Nisbet, five vessels cancelled their visits this week due to the presence of Emily working its way […]
Government has concluded a set of agreements for the sale of its shares in Belize Telecommunications Limited. That’s the word from this morning’s Cabinet press briefing presented by Information Minister Godfrey Smith. And to absolutely no one’s surprise, companies controlled by Michael Ashcroft are heavily involved the sale. The breakdown of how G.O.B. will dispose […]
The Development Finance Corporation: it’s an institution that is at the centre of all that is allegedly wrong with government’s management of the nation’s money. A half decade of over-borrowing, loose lending, and poor oversight have turned the once proud D.F.C. into an economic basket case… with more than one international expert recommending that it […]
The recent decision by the European Union to cut prices paid for sugar sold to E.U. member states by thirty-nine percent over four years will not only cause Belize to lose millions of dollars, but other African, Caribbean and Pacific countries will also be hard hit. Today representatives from the sugar industries of ten countries […]
Last week the government announced that as of Monday July eleventh, the money changing houses, known as casas de cambio, would close. The idea was to plug what was believed to be a very large leak of uncontrolled foreign exchange. The question that immediately arose was how would Belizean shoppers convert their money into pesos […]
It’s a new record for the Central Statistical Office…the release of quarterly figures just two months after relevant surveys were conducted countrywide. But according to officials at the C.S.O., the timely production of accurate information will become a consistent trademark of the department. This morning, officials presented the latest numbers on the economy, and according […]
