Belize City Residents Disagree with PM on Inflation Rate

While the Prime Minister said that the rate of inflation has gone down by two-point-five percent since 2022, the Belize City residents we spoke with disagree. Today, we took our cameras downtown and asked consumers how they feel about the cost of living. They all believe that inflation is heading in the opposite direction, and that the prices that are going up are on basic grocery items.

 

Belize City Resident #1

“I don’t know where this come down because I see the price of basic things gone up. For example, you goh buy sugar, ih gone up and you can’t buy more than five pounds of sugar per person. You go and buy a soft drink, and ih gone up, two-twenty-five now. It was two dollars. The bread, the same thing. Ih used to be two dollars, two-fifty. Now, two-seventy-five, two ninety-five. Tell me where is the cost of living going down.”

 

Belize City Resident #2

“We deh out ya and we di see the economy, exactly what di happen. Tell and talk the truth to the people mek the people know because wi do have inflation da Belize and deh have it da America. Once ih affect America ih affect Belize, but dehn di trick the people. Come out and tell the people plain.”

 

Belize City Resident #3

“Cost ah living can’t goh down when every week nearly everything di goh up. Every other two weeks everything di nearly double the price. Cost ah living nuh di goh down. I da salesman, I di do business, mammy, I di tell yoh, everything di goh up. I di sell natural juice. Sometimes I got coconut water. Bottle di goh up, even the coconut offa the tree di goh up. From shilling – we used to pay twenty cents fi wa whole coconut to sixty cents today. Fi we coconut gone from two dollars a bottle to two-seventy-five, soh cost ah living could ah neva di goh down. I see everybody di complain and di punish, di tek lick. I goh da market and things soh expensive. Seventy-five cents fi one lee dry up lime. Orange gone from six or seven fi dolla to three fi dolla with the skin pahn it. Soh dehn can’t tell we that cost ah living di goh down.”

 

Belize City Resident #4

“I nuh think soh cause everything still expensive.”

 

Marion Ali

“When last you gone da the market and what you pay more pahn?”

 

Belize City Resident #4

“Vegetables, all. All vegetables.”

 

Marion Ali

“Significant increases?”

 

Belize City Resident #4

“Yes, increase by a lot. Everything increase by a lot. Even when yoh goh da the store. When yoh does pay three twenty-five fi wa can ah baking powder, now da seven change. Like ih double the price.”

 

Belize City Resident #5

“Nothing nuh di goh down. Everything goh up because from the time I di sell tamales everything still raise higher than weh yoh think and everybody nuh want pay the price fi the thing dehn cause dehn di goh up higher and higher every day. When yoh buy foil parer ih does cost seven dollars, now ih cost eighteen and thirteen dollars, depends pahn the type or brand ah foil paper yoh di buy cause dehn got different type and different size. Soh every day, life – cost ah living fi my kids dehn – chicken gone up long time. Wi deh da three thirty-five fi a pound a chicken right now. Masa done deh da – wi does deh da what, seventy-five cents. Now masa deh da one twenty-five. When yoh goh buy noodles, simple noodles gone from fifty cents to one-twenty-five, simple noodles. And ih look like ih gwein higher every next day.”