A woman is tonight facing jailtime after allegedly selling a parcel of nonexistent land. The alleged perpetrator is Doris Grant, a name that came up back in April 2021, in a similar investigation. At the time, Grant was accused of receiving thousands of dollars from three individuals in exchange for lands she never had in her position to begin with. Police detained Grant last week after a woman filed a police report against her. The woman told investigators that she made fourteen monetary transactions to Grant who agreed to sell her a parcel of land and a house. But Grant has allegedly been unable to produce the land and house that the woman has paid for. Police told us more.
“About a month ago a complainant reported that she met a female identified as Doris Grant which she had several monetary transactions over a property and a house. An investigation was carried out and since then Doris Grant has been charged with fourteen counts of theft and fourteen counts of obtaining property by deception.”
Reporter
“So, the woman was paying Ms. Grant for land that Ms. Grant didn’t own?”
A.C.P Hilberto Romero
“That is correct yeah?”
Reporter
“The fourteen counts has to do with she making fourteen payments?”
Earlier today, Doris Grant was arraigned on forty counts of obtaining property by deception. The Reggae Street Resident appeared before Magistrate Lois Young along with her attorney, Richard “Dickie” Bradley. Grant was read fourteen counts of theft, fourteen counts of obtaining property by deception and twelve counts of obtaining money transfer by deception. Allegations are that between January first, 2022, and July 2022, she stole over one hundred and twenty-one thousand dollars by money transfer or obtaining property by deception or through theft. It is believed that on January tenth, 2022, she obtained twenty thousand dollars by deception through a bank transfer. Further allegations are that between January first, 2022, to November eight, 2022, she dishonestly appropriated thirty-one thousand dollars that was the property of a real estate company based in the U.S. Additionally, it is alleged that between January tenth and April first, 2022, she stole eighteen thousand dollars from the same company, along with another stolen nine thousand dollars. As we said, the amounts that Grant allegedly received adds up to more than one hundred and twenty-one thousand dollars. There was no objection to bail by the prosecution who simply asked for certain conditions to be placed on Grant. Magistrate Lois Young offered her bail in the sum of fifty thousand dollars, plus one surety of the same or two sureties of twenty-five thousand dollars each. No plea was taken from Grant, and she was also able to meet bail.
Thirty-two-year-old Kurtis Belisle has been arraigned on three counts of manslaughter by negligence for killing three female passengers who were inside his vehicle when it collided into a tree. The charges come almost eleven months after the incident took place near mile ten on the Philip Goldson Highway that claimed the lives of twenty-seven-year-old Virginia Davis, seventeen-year-old Dorothy Davis, and seventeen-year-old Torrie Gentle. Belisle was driving a Ford Ranger pickup when he lost control of the vehicle and crashed into a tree. Tonight, Belisle is out on bail after appearing before Magistrate Lois Young. Bail was offered in the sum of five thousand dollars.
Toledo East Area Representative, Mike Espat passed away on April twenty-second, leaving the seat vacant. And with just two months left before a bye-election is held to fill the post, the People’s United Party’s candidates have set out on the campaign trail with hopes of being elected as the next standard bearer. Doctor Osmond Martinez, current CEO of the Ministry of Finance, Economic Development and Investment, was the first to express interest in the post; officially launching his candidacy on May thirteenth. He is up against Nicanor Requena, former chairman of the Toledo Association of Tour guides, and Melhem Espat, son of the late area representative, during an upcoming convention. The winner will face UDP candidate Dennis Williams. News Five’s Britney Gordon spoke with two of the candidates to hear what their plans are for the constituency, if elected. Here’s that story.
Britney Gordon, Reporting
With just a few weeks to go before the P.U.P convention is held on June ninth, when a standard bearer for the Toledo East constituency will be elected, aspiring politicians are busy campaigning. Among those running for the post is Nicanor Requena, an active member of the Toledo farmers and tour guide communities. His campaign seeks to ensure that the needs of Toledo East residents are met, just as much as other constituencies.
Nicanor Requena
Nicanor Requena, Area Rep Candidate, Toledo East
“So my name is Nicanor Requena, better known as Nic. I am an educator, I’m a biologist, I am a farmer. I’m a tour guide. First of all, I want to thank the People’s United Party for offering me the platform to be a candidate in the upcoming convention for Toledo East. I believe that the Plan Belize is in action and my goal, my vision is to ensure that Toledo East gets its fair part of Plan Belize, which is already happening. So it is a continuation of Plan Belize and ensuring that those priorities of our people are addressed.”
Requena has seen the struggles of the community, and it is the desire to offer aid and support that drives his campaign. He highlighted a need for better infrastructure, healthcare, educational and financial opportunities for youths.
Nicanor Requena
“As I go to the communities, people speak about the need for better health care, better education. Better agricultural roads. Better infrastructure in terms of roads to our communities. More opportunities for our youths. Access to land. Our people want access to water. Now in the peak of dry season, a lot of our communities have that difficulty. I also understand from our people that they want better phone service and internet service, particularly in the rural community. In terms of health care, one of the key things that I understand now and I hear from our people is the better need for our hospitals and our health posts, our clinics in the rural communities in particular, to be fully staffed with doctors, nurses and medicine twenty-four seven so that our people do not have to come into Punta Gorda or into Dangriga. So that, that is one of the key things.”
Also embarking on his campaign trail is Doctor Osmond Martinez, whose decision to offer himself as a candidate also stems from a desire to fight the economic struggles of the communities.
Dr. Osmond Martinez
Dr. Osmond Martinez, Area Rep Candidate, Toledo East
“My name is Osmond Martinez I’m the candidate now for running for the convention of the People’s United Party, convention that will take place on June ninth for Toledo East. First and foremost, I have to say coming from a family that was extremely poor, I grew up on houses that were made of thatch like the ones that we’re seeing here. And so when I look at the poverty estimates, it shows that in Belize we’re doing excellent in terms of poverty reduction, unemployment, bringing foreign direct investment into the country. When an analysis was done only for Toledo District it shows that poverty is still a big issue here. It’s actually increasing. We continue to have problem of unemployment in this area. We continue to have problems of investments. So when you look at the foreign direct investment, less than one percent has actually been invested in the Toledo district. And when I look at that, I started to ask why?”
Through his experience working with the Ministry of Economic Development, Martinez believes he can help create a development plan that will assist the communities in overcoming poverty.
Dr. Osmond Martinez
“So when I when I did that analysis, I said, you know what I have to offer myself to help the people of Toledo. to come out from poverty. We continue to have some serious issues here. One of the issues that we have is lands. For example, every Belizean have a right to own a piece of land. The people of Toledo East have a right to own a piece of land access to health, but health system that will be a primary health system. And in Toledo, for example, is where we have one of the weakest aspects in terms of the health. When we look at our hospital, we need to build a new hospital.”
Both candidates stress the importance of addressing poverty in the south. As a farmer, Requena empathizes with the struggles that farmers face, such as a lack of accessible roads and the challenge of selling produce. He hopes that by creating more opportunities for farmers, fishers, and youths, the communities will be able to grow economically.
Nicanor Requena
“I want to make sure that our farmers are able to have access through farmer’s road, better streets in our communities. I want to also make sure that our farmers are able to sell their produce and get a good price for that. I want to make sure that our youths have opportunities through sports, through education, high school is no longer enough. We need to make sure that our young people, Get a sixth form, get a bachelor’s degree so that they are prepared to contribute positively to the building of our nation. I also believe that our fishermen like our farmers are due an opportunity to create their livelihoods so that they can improve the standards of living so that they can contribute to the building of this nation.”
While on the ground meeting with members of the constituency, Martinez and Requena learned about the severity of these issues, further underlining the necessity to address them as quickly as possible. Martinez believes that through the creation of additional jobs, the constituency will transform completely.
Dr. Osmond Martinez
“These are the things that we need to change. It needs to change and it don’t need to change today or tomorrow. It needs to change from yesterday. We need to fix the roads, the infrastructure roads, not only for the optics of development, but for the optics of increasing the life of people. When you look at our health system in the communities here, there are no doctors here. We have no clinics. And then the distance from one of these villages all the way to Punta Gorda is almost three hours. And sometimes they don’t have transportation. They have to wait for buses. We will definitely put attention a lot of attention and priority in terms of health system, education, infrastructure, tourism and last but not least, which is the most important part is the only way. A country can run, but more important in this case, a constituency like Toledo East, can have a robust transformation, economic transformation is by creating jobs.”
With just a few months to go before the by-election is held for the appointment of a new Toledo East Area Representative, the candidates have launched their campaigns. And while the P.U.P. is preparing to elect a standard bearer at the upcoming convention, the U.D.P. has already made its decision. The United Democratic Party has endorsed Dennis Williams’ candidacy, and he has embarked on his campaign. On Saturday, Williams hosted a basketball marathon with the youths of Toledo east. This event was facilitated so that youths in the area would be able to develop traits such as discipline, hard work and unity which they can apply in all aspects of life. A first, second and third cash prize was given to participants. The U.D.P. said that, “the next Area Representative for Toledo East will embrace and empower the Youth. Leader of the Opposition.”
Team Belize is back from the 2024 CADICA Games and the athletes did not return empty handed. On Friday, a delegation of eleven track and field athletes flew to Costa Rica to compete in the annual Central American and Caribbean Athletic Championships. Last year, the team brought home several medals and this year, was another success. With two gold, one silver, three bronze medals and several personal best records broken, Cojac Smith, President of the Belize Athletics Association, says that Belize should be feeling nothing but pride.
Cojac Smith
Cojac Smith, President, Belize Athletics Association
“The youths did very well in this CADICA games. We have two gold medals. Kali Magana, she got a gold in four hundred and a gold in eight hundred. Then we have a silver and three bronze. So the silver was Jouvann Morgan. He got a silver, was very close to gold in triple jump and he did a PR in triple jump as well. And he got a bronze in long jump. The other two bronze were Summer. She got a bronze in shot put and did a PR as well. And the next bronze was Dario Crunckshanck. He did the high jump. That’s the medal count that we have. So all of the eleven athletes that went, we did pretty good.It’s ecstatic. To be honest with you, we’re just trying our best to see how best we could move, track and field forward, and give these kids bigger opportunities for them to do well and be successful. So, while we at the association are doing our part, the highlight is really just the youths that did excellent and performed. Because without they performing, then the work that we did would have been for no reason. So, we have to give kudos to the youths that did excellent.”
Britney Gordon
“And what are the plans moving forward as you continue to work with these kids?”
Cojac Smith
“The plans moving forward is just continued development because while not everyone meddled, the other kids that went did very well as well. There were several personal bits in those as well and there’s a lot of potential in these youths, U18 and U20. You have standout in the other athletes like Nathan, Elvin, I don’t want to say the list because I might forget someone, but they are very. Very exceptional use and we just want to keep this score as well as others that were very close to the standard that did not able to make the trip and just continue pushing and developing sports. We have a lot of program that we want to put in place in terms of coaching development, officiating development and that will help holistically move track and feel forward and getting more youths and identifying more youths and recruiting. Recruiting because Belize has a lot of talent and a lot of times that we’re just not identifying these youths and even though we’re having these meets, we’re still not reaching everywhere that we could reach. So it’s just to continue identifying these youths and giving them positive opportunity for them to excel.”
Over the weekend, residents and visitors partook in the annual celebration of the 2024 Chocolate Festival in Punta Gorda. This three-day event highlights the cacao bean, one of Toledo’s most important exports. During the festivities, chocolate lovers were able to purchase a variety of Belizean chocolate and cacao products, as well as other Belizean-made merchandise. News Five’s Britney Gordon attended the event to capture the excitement. Here’s that story.
Britney Gordon, Reporting
If you were in Punta Gorda this weekend, then there is a high possibility you stopped by the 2024 Chocolate Fest. The festivities began on Friday, with an evening of wine, chocolate, and culture and ended on Sunday with the Cacao Cup football match. But it was Saturday’s activities that drew the crowd from across the country. The celebration of chocolate was filled with food, dance music, and of course, chocolate. Dennis Garbutt, Chairman of the Chocolate Festival, shared his excitement over the event.
Dennis Garbutt
Dennis Garbutt, Chairman, Chocolate Festival 0f Belize
“The Chocolate Fest, it’s here. We’ve been celebrating the Chocolate Festival for over 16 years now in Toledo and it’s literally Getting people to come and see Toledo. I represent the Belize Tourism Industry Association and our goal is to work along with the chocolatiers and the producers, the farmers, to make sure that we could turn it into some sort of an agro-tourism product. And it has been doing great. I remember when we just started some years ago, over sixteen years ago. When we started, for example, there was very limited chocolatiers. You could only find two or three chocolatiers across the country. Now you have well over ten chocolatiers producing fine quality chocolate for the rest of, for Belize and for the rest of the world. So this is not just a party. This is a way of life for a lot of people here in Toledo.”
As the name suggests, chocolate was the star of the show. A booth that was never without a line was that belonging to Ixcacao Maya Belizean Chocolate. This family-owned business was started back in 2000 and has grown into one of the most popular local chocolate producers. On sale were a selection of bars, jams, and butter made from cacao, but what stood out among the variety of sweets were the bottles of cacao wine on sale.
Henry Cho
Henry Cho, Chocolatier, Ixcacao Maya Chocolate Belize
“We produce a long list of chocolates, a total of flavors. We have dark and we only have a few selection of milk chocolates. Our primary focus is always going to be dark chocolate.”
Britney Gordon
“So this wine sounds very interesting. Can you walk me through that process of how you get wine from a cacao fruit?”
Henry Cho
“Well, the first process of making chocolate is fermentation and the outcome of fermentation would be the production of alcohols. So instead of fermenting for cacao to turn into chocolate, we decided to extract only the pulp so that we could convert it into a wine instead. And gradually it developed alcohols, and so we were able to bottle those up and to nickname it as our cacao wine.”
While Ixcacao were the only chocolatiers present at the event, there were several booths selling skin care products that were made using cacao. In celebration of the Chocolate Fest, Indira Andrewin of Coco Love, created a collection of products using chocolate.
Indira Andrewin
Indira Andrewin, Owner, Coco Love
“For the cacao fest you made. Okay. For the cacao fest, I made a chocolate collection. So we have four products. We have a body cleanser, a body exfoliant, a body serum, and a body butter. So a lot of people, when they think of chocolate, they just think to eat and it just tastes good, but actually cacao has so much benefits. It has so much antioxidants and these antioxidants help the skin to be youthful and moisturized. So it definitely is beneficial to the skin.”
Andrewin explained that she had started her company while she was in high school and was celebrating its ten-year anniversary this year at the festival. We also spoke with Jessica Reyes, owner of Reyes Organic Beauty, who told us about her line of sustainable beauty products. She explained that she makes her own cacao by hand for her products.
Jessica Reyes
Jessica Reyes, Owner, Reyes Organic Beauty
“So as I mentioned we do natural skincare products and pretty much we create natural soap bars and natural skin body butters All of them are based with cacao Pretty much is a pity that we do not produce cacao here as a butter. I had to purchase like a 10 pound bag of the cacao seed, mashed it, grinded, cooked it, and took out like about a hundred grams of it. But if we, we have so much cultivation here in Belize, it would be awesome if we can create those things here in Belize.”
Just a few booths down was another selection of cacao infused soaps. Dawn Dean, owner of Barranco Botanics, told us that she prides her products in being one hundred percent Belizean-made.
Dawn Dean
Dawn Dean, Owner, Barranco Botanics
“I make soap, natural soap. And what makes my soap unique is that it’s one hundred percent Belizean ingredients. The coconut oil that’s in my soap, because soap is oil, that’s what soap is made from, is all produced by ladies in their households from grated coconut, and they bring it to my factory and sell it to me, and then I use different local plants, like jackass bitters, cacao, green banana, madrida cacao, yellow ginger, honey. All of it one hundred percent Belizean.”
The event carried on until late into the night, after a day filled with cultural dances, music, and entertainment provided by Ozzy the Clown. The night ended with drinking competitions of Belize’s own Belikin chocolate stout. For anyone who wanted to taste this Belizean specialty, Belikin was there to provide a free sample of the beverage.
Goodnight and welcome to another edition of Sports Monday, I am Paul Lopez. Playoff season for the BEBL has officially kicked off. Number one seed, the Benny’s Belize Hurricanes are playing the number four seed, the Dangriga Dream Ballers in a three-game series. The first match of that series was played on Friday night inside the Belize City Civic Center. The Hurricane made astatement in game one.
In the first quarter, Victor Evans, guarded by Edgar Mitchell, makes some space and gets the jump shot in. On the other end, Kevon Laurie goes up big, draws the foul and makes the basket. Glency “Coope” Lopez comes up with the steal and makes good on the bucket. Here is some game time action from veteran Alex Carcamo, showing the youngsters how to get it done.
At the start of the second quarter, Hurricanes were up by only five points, a twenty-six to sixteen ball game. Deshawn Brackett coming into the paint hot does a pump fake mid-air and gets the ball in. Eyan Rene finds Lopez on the fast break. Things really started to go downhill for the Dream Ballers in the third quarter. The Hurricanes outscored them by nineteen points. Mitchell finds Kyron Molina at the three-point line, and he drills it over Carcamo. Kirk Smith Jr. goes up surrounded by four defenders. He is blocked but somehow manages to recover the ball. He gets it into the hands of Evans and the MVP did what he does best. Lopez again slithers his way through the Ballers’ defense, catches a glimpse of Sidibe Bourama, passed and Bourama finished with the dunk. Dunk of the night goes to Tyrie Orosco off the assist from Evans. That play looks much better in slow motion.
The Hurricanes won game one hundred and five to seventy. They are heading to Dangriga on Friday night for game two, as the Dream Ballers face elimination.
And then on Sunday evening, the Belize City Defenders and the San Pedro Tiger Sharks faced off in the second three-game series in the playoffs. The San Pedro Tiger Sharks are hoping to make it to the finals two years in a row, while the Defenders are looking for redemption after their 2023 performance. And this was not a match to miss.Nigel Jones with the early dunk off a fastbreak assist from John Kelly. Daniel Conorquie responding for the Sharks from beyond the three-point line. Jones again muscles his way in to get the basket. Bobby Arthur-Williams, big inside for Sharks over two defenders. D’von Campbell, from way beyond the three-point line, drills it in.
The first half of the game played out evenly on both ends of the court. The two teams ended the first half with thirty-seven points apiece. At the end of the third, the defenders were trailing by only one point with the game at fifty-one to fifty. Williams for the three and he misses, Conorquie in position at the three and he makes the bucket. Conorquie again from the three-point line extending a Sharks lead to seven points in the fourth quarter. The Defenders slowly chipped away at the Sharks’ lead. The Defenders are down by two points with just over a minute left in the game. Jones finds Daniel Estes who slams it in. Big points for the Defenders.Defenders now with a chance to take the lead with fifteen seconds on the clock. Jones works his way around Keith Pollard along the baseline and gets a big basket.Six seconds left on the clock, Jihad Wright to Arana and watch Pollard as he slides under the basket. Arana is aware, passes the ball and Pollard sends the game into overtime.
The Defenders would go one to win game one eight-six to seventy-nine points.
From basketball, let us now move into some football action. Port Loyola Football Club is your 2024 Premier League of Belize Closing Season Champions. Here we see fans celebrating Port F.C.’s first goal against Verdes inside the Norman Broaster Stadium. Belize City fans celebrated the goal as their team came into the second leg with a defeat under its belt.
But that celebration seemed to have taken a turn when a fence in the stadium broke under the weight of cheering fans. A couple of those fans continued pulling at what was left of the fence and the celebrations continued. Notwithstanding that display, Port Loyola F.C. has an incredible story to tell, going from a team that was struggling to carve out a name for themselves in the league four years ago, to becoming a championship team in the PLB. This also means that Port Loyola F.C. will represent Belize in CONCACAF.
And in other football action, the Anthony Mahler Under- Thirteen Mundialito Tournament continued Saturday. Here are some highlights from the match between Ladyille Rising Stars and Sampson Academy.
Eight minutes into the match, Sampson’s Anthony Cowo converts a spot kick into his team’s first goal of the match. Twenty-one minutes in, Rising Stars’ Akeem Eiley makes good on a loose ball in front of the goalpost to tie the game. Immediately after, Jaron Lewis sent one flying from midfield, outplacing the goalkeeper. The disappointed look on the faces of his teammates. Ladyville Rising Stars would come from behind to score two more goals and secure the victory.
In a second game on Saturday, Reality Youths took on Leaders of Tomorrow. Reality Youths’ Javen White goes full speed into the penalty box, sees an opportunity and puts the ball over the head of the goalkeeper and into the goal. With only a few minutes left on the clock, Leaders of Tomorrow’s Darwin Hernandez kicks towards the goal and the goalkeeper seemed to have been under the impression that the ball would go out of bounds. He left in and the rolled right into the net. That match ended one goal apiece.
Well folks that is all we have for you in tonight’s coverage of Sports Monday. Catch you in the next one.
Public outrage is increasing by the minute as more social media users view a video of a man abusing a male child. The disturbing video was posted on Facebook.
The police say that an investigation has been launched.
The heartbreaking video shows the man throwing the boy to the ground. He slaps and kicks the vulnerable boy repeatedly. The boy cries as the man continues to attack him.
Public Outrage as Man Caught Abusing Child
During one of the instances, a woman intervenes. News Five has not confirmed where the incidents took place.
At today’s police press briefing, A.C.P. Hilberto Romero, Regional Commander, Eastern Division, told reporters “an investigation is being carried out in regards to that video that was on Facebook.”
On Facebook, users are expressing their disgust at the man. One wrote, “This makes my stomach turn, I am so angry. That man is a perfect example of what ails this nation. Disgusting. Fire him. Jail him. Somebody deal with ah.”
Another said, I hope he is found and rots in prison…”
Public Outrage as Man Caught Abusing Child
Earlier today, UNICEF issued a release calling for urgent action to end violence against children. UNICEF said it is “gravely concerned by the spike and gravity of incidents of violence that have been impacting children in Belize over the last couple of months.”
The Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has concluded the Article IV consultation with Belize, endorsing the staff appraisal without a formal meeting.
Economic Performance in 2023:
Belize experienced moderated economic growth and inflation in 2023. Real GDP growth slowed from 8.7% in 2022 to 4.7% in 2023, driven by sectors such as tourism, construction, retail, wholesale trade, transport, and business process outsourcing. Inflation decreased from 6.3% in 2022 to 4.4% in 2023, largely due to lower transport and utility prices, despite rising food costs. The fiscal position remained robust, but debt dynamics became more challenging. The overall fiscal deficit widened, influenced by a reduced primary surplus and increased interest payments on external debt. Public debt slightly declined from 67% of GDP in 2022 to 66% in 2023 following the acquisition of the Port of Belize and the settlement of foreign investor litigations.
Future Economic Outlook:
Real GDP growth and inflation are expected to further moderate. Growth is projected at 3.4% in 2024 and 2.5% from 2025 onwards, with inflation anticipated to drop to 1.3% in the medium term, aligning with declining commodity prices and global inflation. The primary balance is expected to remain at 1.2% of GDP from FY2024, with public debt projected to decline slowly but remain above 50% of GDP through 2034 due to slower nominal GDP growth and high global interest rates. Key risks include higher global food and fuel prices, prolonged high global interest rates, and climate-related disasters.
Executive Board Assessment:
Belize’s key policy priorities involve reducing public debt to 50% of GDP by FY2030 by raising the primary fiscal balance to 2.0% of GDP from FY2025 onwards. This entails increasing priority spending on infrastructure, targeted social programs, and crime prevention, financed through additional revenues and expenditure reprioritization. Structural reforms aimed at boosting inclusive and resilient growth and vigilant financial stability measures are also crucial.
Achieving a 50% public debt-to-GDP ratio by 2030 would ensure debt sustainability and fiscal buffers. This target, aligned with investment-grade emerging market economies, would likely maintain debt below the 70% GDP target in the 2021 Medium-term Recovery Plan. Attaining this goal requires fiscal consolidation to raise the primary balance to 2% of GDP from FY2025, supported by a medium-term fiscal strategy and a potential Fiscal Responsibility Law with robust fiscal rules.
Revenue and expenditure measures can enhance the primary surplus and fund essential spending. Broadening the GST base, increasing excise taxes, rebalancing manufacturing taxes, and improving revenue administration can boost revenue by 2.2% of GDP. Reforming the PPPO could reduce government spending by 0.1% of GDP. Savings would support a higher primary surplus (0.8% of GDP) and expand priority spending (1.5% of GDP), fostering medium-term growth and resilience. Priority spending includes infrastructure improvements, renewable energy investments, childcare and training subsidies for vulnerable women, targeted transfers for food security, and climate-resilient infrastructure.
Improving the business climate and developing a disaster resilience strategy (DRS) are essential for medium-term growth. Enhancing access to affordable credit for SMEs, digitalizing land and business registries, and improving government services are key priorities. A comprehensive DRS would support funding for climate mitigation and adaptation, reducing output volatility.
Increasing international reserves would strengthen the currency peg. Belize’s external position is strong, yet international reserves remain below the ARA metric. Fiscal consolidation and structural reforms to increase reserves would fortify the currency peg, especially with rising external financing needs projected when blue loan repayments begin in 2032.
Limiting central bank financing of the government, preserving financial stability, and strengthening the AML/CFT framework are critical. Reducing central bank financing gradually would decrease excess liquidity and support local capital market development. The central bank should monitor financial stability risks, enhance supervision of vulnerable institutions, and enforce the AML/CFT framework, particularly in the IFS.
