A Look at Briceno Administration 2024-2025 Budget  

On Friday, Prime Minister John Briceño presented a review of the government’s fiscal performance for the year 2023 to 2024. He also put forward his administration’s budget for the upcoming fiscal year. On Friday, we showed you some highlights from his presentation. Tonight, News Five’s Paul Lopez takes a closer look at the 2024/2025 budget, looking at key investments proposed for infrastructure, education and health. And then, there is that ever increasing public sector wage bill. Here is that report.

 

Paul Lopez, Reporting

Prime Minister John Briceño projects one point five billion dollars in revenue and grants for fiscal year 2024-2025. Total projected expenditure stands at one point six billion dollars.

 

Prime Minister John Briceño

“Revenues are comprised of seven hundred and ninety-one million dollars from collections on goods and services, Three hundred and sixty-five million from collections on income and profits, two hundred and twenty-three million from collections on international trade and transactions accounting and seven point seventeen million from collections on property accounting. Let me put this into perspective, for Belizeans to better understand the purpose of each dollar Government spends. Thirty cents of every dollar will be for the wages of public officers; seven cents of every dollar for public officer pensions; eighteen cents of every dollars for operational costs to government, such as utilities and transportation; seven cents for interest on loans, and the remaining twenty-seven cents for capital expenditures, which includes the funding of all projects and programs undertaken by Government.”

 

That’s seventy-three percent of every dollar going to government’s recurrent expenditure and twenty-seven percent left for capital projects and programs. Among them, the Briceño Administration promises thirty-five million dollars more to fund the expansion of NHI, six million to construct low income houses, and a whopping forty-nine million to construct, repair and maintain streets and highways across the country. Two million dollars have been allocated for sports investments. In education, twelve high schools are being added to the Education Upliftment Project.

 

Prime Minister John Briceño

“In the budget 2024-2025, Government plans to add twelve additional secondary schools to the Program, increasing coverage to a target of six thousand additional students. The twelve additional schools include Belize Rural High, Ladyville Technical High, San Pedro High, Belmopan Comprehensive, Mopan Technical High, Valley of Peace SDA Academy, Chunox St. Viator Vocational High, Escuela Secundaria Tecnica Mexico, Belize High School of Agriculture, Orange Walk Technical, Bella Vista Government Secondary and Julian Cho Technical High Schools. In these schools the government is paying everyting for these students and there should be no reason why any of these kids should not remain in school.”

 

This morning, on the heels of his budget presentation, Prime Minister Briceño made an appearance on Open Your Eyes. He explained how his administration goes about ensuring financial prudence and accountability across all government ministries.

 

Prime Minister John Briceño

“You make enemies, some people get upset, some people get happy, ministries are constantly fighting for more resource, it is a constant battle. Joe Waight  and Zeta are not the most popular people in government because they are the ones that has to make the hard decision to tell us, minister well this is the money, this is what we have, these are the commitments we have to meet and this is what is left. And even of what is left we have already committed to projects, so that gets even smaller. We have to take a hard look at to where the real needs are, education, housing, health, infrastructure works and then from there we start to look at where we can allocate the limited resources to try to have the biggest impact in our lives.”

 

With up to one point one billion dollars allocated to recurrent expenditure and just over half of that earmarked to pay wages and pension, Prime Minister Briceño says the government’s wage bill is too big. So, how does the Briceño administration plan to trim the fat? That’s what he was asked.

 

Isani Cayetano, Co-Host, OYE

“What can be done to either limit or sort of curtail that part of expenditure? You are looking at pensions, salaries and everything that falls in that category?”

 

Prime Minister John Briceño

“Isani you the try set me up? Because, of those advocates that I believe the government is too big. But, you are right, agree. That is why we are pushing for pension reform, pension continues to go up, and it is over a hundred million dollars. What has happened, when I think about it, when we got independence, when we became independent in 1981, we took what the British did and continued that road. The government pays every single penny of your pension and it continues to increase. There has been some instances in government that when you combine the pension from government and from social security you end up with the same salary you are earning when you worked. We are speaking with the public service and union about pension reform and they have been very clear it is a must. We cannot continue to afford it. Now this is hard decision we are making and it cut hurt us politically. We nuh wah benefit from it because what we are saying is all those in the system will continue to benefit but we need to have a cutoff date.”

 

Reporting for News Five, I am Paul Lopez.