2024-12-20 - Channel 5 Belize

Economic Outlook for Latin America and the Caribbean in 2024

The Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) has released its “Preliminary Overview of the Economies of Latin America and the Caribbean 2024,” providing a comprehensive analysis of the region’s economic performance and projections. The report highlights the persistent challenges and emerging opportunities as the region navigates a complex global economic landscape.

Global Economic Context: In 2024 and 2025, global economic growth is expected to stabilise at around 3.2%, driven primarily by emerging economies. The United States, accounting for 25% of global GDP, is projected to grow by 2.8% in 2024 and 2.2% in 2025, supported by robust consumption and a strong labour market. The eurozone, however, faces slower growth, with Germany experiencing economic stagnation due to declines in key industrial sectors.

Regional Economic Performance: Latin America and the Caribbean are projected to grow by 2.2% in 2024 and 2.4% in 2025. Despite these figures being above the decade’s average growth rate of 1%, they remain insufficient to close the gap with developed economies. The region’s economic activity is increasingly dependent on private consumption, with growth in gross fixed capital formation and net exports remaining weak.

Monetary and Fiscal Policies: The world’s major central banks have expanded liquidity, ending the tight monetary policy cycle of 2022. This has led to increased global liquidity and lower interest rates, benefiting developed economies more than developing ones. In Latin America and the Caribbean, falling inflation and rate cuts in the United States have prompted looser monetary policies. However, the region’s fiscal space remains limited, with rising public debt and interest payments constraining public spending.

Labour Market Trends: The region’s labour markets show modest improvements despite continued low job creation. Employment growth is projected at 1.7% in 2024, with the unemployment rate expected to decline slightly to 6.1%. Informal employment remains high, though it has decreased marginally. Real wages have increased in most countries, driven by falling inflation and nominal wage adjustments.

Inflation and Exchange Rates: Inflation in the region has been steadily declining, from 8.2% in 2022 to a projected 3.4% in 2024. This decline is attributed to falling international food and energy prices and restrictive monetary policies. However, inflation remains above pre-pandemic levels, and exchange rate volatility continues to pose challenges.

External Sector and Debt Issuance: The region’s balance of payments is projected to record a deficit of 1.2% of GDP in 2024, driven by higher interest payments abroad. While foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows have increased, the net transfer of resources abroad remains a concern. Debt issuance on international markets has risen, with thematic bonds gaining popularity as a financing tool.

Challenges and Policy Recommendations: ECLAC emphasises the need for comprehensive policies to overcome the region’s low capacity for growth. This includes mobilising financial resources, strengthening public finances, and implementing productive development policies. Key areas of focus include environmental sustainability, science and technology, digitalisation, and investment in infrastructure.

BTB Joins Good Travel Alliance as Founding Destination

The Belize Tourism Board (BTB) has officially joined the Good Travel Alliance as a founding destination. This announcement was made at the Green Destinations Conference 2024.

The Good Travel Alliance is a global initiative focused on promoting responsible tourism practices that create positive impacts on communities and the environment.

The alliance aims to make tourism a powerful force for good, prioritising local well-being and environmental preservation. Through this partnership, Belize will further its sustainable tourism efforts by collaborating with other destinations and stakeholders dedicated to these principles.

The BTB says that by joining the alliance, Belize gains access to valuable resources, global partnerships, and innovative tools designed to enhance the country’s tourism practices while benefiting its local communities. The alliance also welcomes other destinations and destination management organisations (DMOs) committed to fostering sustainable travel experiences, expanding the collective impact of these efforts.

BTB said, “We look forward to working collaboratively toward creating meaningful and lasting outcomes that celebrate both our rich culture and remarkable nature in Belize!”

Teachers Still Waiting for Payments Despite Promises

Tonight, several teachers are still waiting for their overdue allowances and increments from the Government of Belize, despite the Ministry of Education’s promise to resolve the issue today. So, what’s causing the delay, and is the government to blame? Late this evening, we spoke with Nadia Caliz, President of the Belize National Teachers Union (B.N.T.U). She explained that while funds have been sent to the respective school managements, other issues are holding up the payments. Caliz stated that the B.N.T.U. has given the government until December thirty-first to fix the problem. She also confirmed that the notice of industrial action in early January is still in effect.

Nadia Caliz, President, Belize National Teachers Union

“I cannot tell you that they have settled it a hundred percent. What I do know is that we met with government on Tuesday for an update and they said that teachers would receive their increments and allowances today. What happened is that from yesterday some teachers were paid and we learned that a huge group did not receive any increment or any allowances. The method the government used was to give the managements a grant and the managements had the responsibility of paying the teachers. Some of the information we received today from a large number of teachers is that they called the managements asking why is it that I wasn’t paid, like, you know, tell me why. And the managements are saying that the commission, it should be TAS, the Teachers Administrative Services, they did not approve it. The teachers then took it upon themselves to call TAS. TAS is now telling them, yes, it was approved from July, from January, they can give specific dates. Call back the managements, “Oh, we did nit get the increment certificates.” So there is a whole series of blame game going on right now. When I think about it, government is trying to pinpoint where the problem is. With all the responses I got today from some of our teachers, they’re trying to pinpoint where the problem is. If you look at it from a Pontius Pilate kind of perspective, “Sih di money ya, pay dehn. You deal wid dehn, you know dehn, you employ dehn, you deal with dehn.”

Isani Cayetano

“And wash their hands of the situation.”

Nadia Caliz

“What we are doing from our end, we are holding everybody accountable. I called Minister Fonseca and I said to him, the teachers are not happy because they have not received it. They assured us that they will touch base with the management. So every name coming in, every information we are getting in, Sister Keisha, sending it forward, we are sending it forward. But it is showing that the managements don’t have the proper mechanism to deal with this. They don’t. And for teachers who are owed two, three, four, five years, it’s worse, and some of them can show you the communication, the responses from the management over a period of time, all of that, and we have been forwarding these things to the TAS, Chie Gongora, and getting back our responses. There is a serious issue with how teachers are being paid and it needs to be corrected. They promised us that they are going to work on it. Well they have started already by mapping out the process, trying to remove all the anomalies so that by the, let me say the first of September, 2025, there is a better system in place.”

Isani Cayetano

“The government, in a sense, has met its pledge. The monies have been paid out. Now you’re looking at a different scenario in terms of getting the money to the teachers. What does January 2025 look like, in light of what would have been any form of industrial action taken by the BNTU and its membership?”

Nadia Caliz

“That is still on. Teachers are demonstrating, or teachers will demonstrate if the situation is not fixed. Government, management, whomsoever is responsible, that demonstration is connected there. They want to register their discontent, it’s time and past time. I cannot tell you that we will proceed. I cannot tell you that we will not proceed. Our deadline, the deadline that the membership voted on is the thirty-first of December and we cannot move the goalpost. That’s the date we gave the government. They made a move from the twentieth to the thirty-first to correct this.”

Third Suspect Arrested in Double Murder

Tonight, a third suspect has been arrested and charged in connection with the double murder of two Belmopan taxi drivers who went missing at the end of November. Their bodies were later discovered in a shallow grave in the Hattieville area. Twenty-year-old Ronald Steadman Frazer, a laborer from Ontario Village in the Cayo District, has been remanded to prison. He joins two other suspects already charged with the murders of cousins Marvin Cante and Juan Raymundo. Frazer, who was arrested on Thursday, appeared in the Belize City Magistrate’s Court this morning, facing two counts of murder. Unrepresented, he stood before a Senior Magistrate in Court #2, where he was formally charged with the murders of thirty-seven-year-old Marvin Elisandro Cante and thirty-two-year-old Juan Carlos Raymundo. Due to the severity of the charges, bail was denied, and Frazer was remanded to the Belize Central Prison until February twelfth, 2025. Frazer now joins Alexander Smith Jr., a construction worker, and Carl Lindo, an unemployed resident of Mile 15 Hattieville/Boom Road, both twenty-one years old. Smith Junior and Lindo were arraigned on December sixteenth on the same charges and are also being held at the Belize Central Prison. The trio is scheduled to appear in court together for the first time on February twelfth, 2025.

Doctor’s Trial for Sexual Assault Continues

Today, Doctor Desmond Arzu, accused of sexually assaulting a female patient during an ultrasound in March 2023, was back in court for his trial. The forty-year-old doctor, who was charged on May twelfth, 2024, appeared before a Senior Magistrate in Court #2. However, the trial couldn’t proceed because the crown’s representative, DPP Cheryl Lynn-Vidal, was absent due to another case at the High Court. The matter was adjourned to January second, 2025. Doctor Arzu arrived at court around ten a.m. with his attorneys, Bryan Neal and Arthur Saldivar. After waiting for nearly an hour, the Senior Magistrate postponed the trial. Attorney Saldivar objected to cross-examining the virtual complainant virtually and insisted she appear in person. This issue will be addressed when the trial resumes on January twenty-first, 2025. Doctor Arzu, who remains out on bail, left court with family members who came to support him. The trial was moved from Dangriga to Belize City for continuation after starting in July this year. The incident allegedly occurred on March twenty-sixth, 2023. The victim reported that Doctor Arzu assaulted her during an abdominal ultrasound by touching her inappropriately and making her feel horrified and shocked. She described how he inserted his fingers into her private parts and massaged her breast during the procedure. Doctor Arzu is a radiologist and has been out on bail since his arraignment on May twelfth, 2023.

Coast Guard Clarifies Incident with Guatemalan Vessel

Earlier this week, there were reports of a Guatemalan gunboat running aground on the reef in southern waters, leading to a tense standoff with Belizean Coast Guardsmen. However, Rear Admiral Elton Bennett, Commandant of the Belize Coast Guard, quickly clarified that this wasn’t the case. He stated that it wasn’t a gunboat, no weapons were drawn, and once the coast guardsmen confirmed the vessel was in Belizean waters, it left peacefully. Today, Minister of Defense and Border Security, Florencio Marin Junior, reassured the public that the vessel near Ragged Caye in the Ranguana Caye range was not a gunboat. Marin expressed confidence in the Coast Guard’s ability to handle potentially volatile situations, both in the past and moving forward.

Florencio Marin Jr., Minister of Defense & Border Security

“ It wasn’t a gunboat. Although it was a geography vote, and, my thoughts on it, as I had mentioned in the speech that our sailors or seamen, whenever they see these tricks or their incursions in territorial, once they go out and they meet it and they diffuse it. So those are my thoughts and I promise you that as long as these, these things would occur our seamen will be there to diffuse the situation.”

Reporter

“How skilled are they in de-escalating, because we know if it escalates anymore, and anybody gets jumpy and triggers start pull, it will be bad for Belize.”

Florencio Marin Jr.

“I mean, I have all the people here for the seamen. I mean, under the leadership of Bennett they’re professionally trained, you know, so they don’t go there in any aggressive manner. The opportunity will be affirmed if we advise them appropriately. Every time we manage to resolve it.”

Excitement at BSI as Record Sugar Shipment Heads to London

It’s an exciting week for the team at Belize Sugar Industries. At Big Creek Port in Stann Creek District, the Federal Tiber vessel is being loaded with over thirty-nine thousand tons of raw sugar. So, where’s it heading? This massive shipment is bound for London, England. The Supply Chain Manager says that if the weather cooperates, the ship is set to sail next week.

Britney Gordon, Reporting

Eldy Smith, Supply Chain Manager, ASR/BSI

“Today is a memorable moment for us. It’s one of the largest vessels that has docked in Belize. We’re loading thirty-nine thousand five hundred metric tons. We are expecting that The finished loading is within six days. We have some delays and this is mainly because of the rain. But our loading rates are normally between five thousand to seven thousand metric tons an hour, right? Right now we are currently meeting the five thousand. And we are hoping that we can get better with the weekend that we have better sunny skies.”

Typically, loading a shipment of this size would take over forty days. BSI’s Communications Director, Williams Neal, explains that if a vessel stays docked longer than the agreed loading and unloading time, a demurrage fee is charged for each extra day. By boosting efficiency, the company saves valuable time and money.

William Neal, Communications Director, B.S.I.

“ It’s really not only historic for BSI, but for the country. Because it shows that if we have the right port facilities, we can do much more. And in a world where competitiveness is important when you’re talking about businesses. You have to make sure that you’re able to respond to your needs of your clients as they arrive. So while we’re moving on a regular basis, the raw sugar down here, we have to make sure that we’re able to compete with other larger producers globally. So the infrastructure here at the port that we 30 million dollars Uh, proves that this was long overdue, and perhaps it’s something that we need to do more in terms of port and infrastructure development.”

Over the past two years, BSI has been phasing out the tug and barge system for transporting sugar. The main reasons? High maintenance costs and the difficulty of insuring the barges.

William Neal

“It made a lot of dollars and cents to actually move to this facility because the savings drove that entire process. It’s not easy when you’re a business and you’re doing massive transformation to continue spending money because the impression then is that you have a lot of money. But if you do nothing, you’re going to die. So you have to make the investment. You know, some people say scared money doesn’t make money in business. You have to be bold and you have to be ahead of the curve.”

This shipment showcases Belize’s growing capacity for trade. Dr. Osmond Martinez, Minister of State in the Ministry of Foreign Trade, sees it as a positive signal to the international market.

Dr. Osmond Martinez, Minister of State, Ministry of Foreign Trade

“Whenever we analyze the efficiencies and the effectiveness in terms of the supply chain and to be able to compete in the local, in the global market in this case to supply sugar is very important because the more we are able to export, that means that more competitive we are in terms of price. And today, when you look at the global inflation. Global inflation which is affecting all consumers in the world being competitive in terms of price is very important.”

The total value of the export is forty-five million dollars which Martinez anticipates will directly impact Belize’s economy by reducing the country’s trade deficit.

Dr. Osmond Martinez

“But it is also important to note that its contribution has a multiplier effect. And it is our hope that its contribution will not just be a one-time impact, but that it will have an a wider impact. In terms of hope the money is circulating within Belize’s economy.”

Britney Gordon for News Five.

Crop Set to Commence Two Days After Christmas

Belize Sugar Industries is gearing up to ship the largest quantity of raw sugar in the country’s history, reflecting a successful cane season. However, the latter half of the season faced setbacks due to changing weather conditions and the fusarium disease, which devastated many Northern crops. We spoke with B.S.I. Communications Director, William Neal, about when the next crop season will start and how optimistic the company is for the future.

William Neal, Communications Director, B.S.I/A.S.R.

“We’ve had discussions with stakeholders and it was decided that the start of crop work and that would be the twenty-seventh of December B. S. I. Had actually proposed that we start on the sixteenth of December. We know that we have a lot of challenges with rain and climate change in general, but we thought because of the sarium disease as well that we should start as early as possible, however, and it was agreed that we would start on the twenty-seventh of December, and I think that Should be that’s it. That’s it by now, and we should proceed with that. We don’t foresee any challenges in that regard. But of course, the farmers and the farmer associations asked for that because there were concerns about the rains, the condition of fields, but also the condition of roads. Anybody who drives on the roads in Belize know that we are having significant challenges with roads that are in horrible conditions.”

State of Emergency in Sugar Industry Due to Fungal Disease

Last month, the Ministry of Agriculture declared a state of emergency in the sugar industry because a fungal disease has infected up to forty thousand acres of sugar cane. This disease causes the cane to yellow and wilt, making them unfit for sugar production. With the new crop season starting in just a week, we asked Belize Sugar Industries Communications Director, William Neal, for an update on the search for a cure. Here’s what he had to say.

William Neal, Communications Director, B.S.I/A.S.R.

“This is new, so there’s a lot of research still ongoing, but we know some things. One, Corozal. Has been more impacted than Orange Walk. We also know that Fusarium is not new. It was triggered perhaps by the climate change challenges. The extended droughts, the excessive rains. It just created the perfect conditions for it to grow. I don’t think they have identified exactly what species it is. So there’s some best practices that they’re testing, but I don’t think enough time has passed to say how effective those are. Of course you have to do everything that you can to make sure that you have the maximum input and in some cases the estimate is that production could fall as much as thirty percent, that’s significant. That’s one third of your production. So it’s something that we definitely have to, as an industry, focus on and try to mitigate the impact of it.”

Government Reports Drop in Sugar Smuggling

The Government of Belize reports a significant decrease in sugar smuggling over the past few months. Earlier this year, many Belizeans will remember stores limiting the amount of sugar one person could buy, sparking fears of a sugar shortage. However, Belize Sugar Industries quickly debunked this, clarifying that the country had plenty of sugar and that the limits were to curb smuggling. Today, we spoke with Doctor Osmond Martinez, Minister of State in the Ministry of Foreign Trade, for an update on the situation. Here’s what he had -to say.

Dr. Osmond Martinez, Minister of State, Ministry of Foreign Trade

“The government have taken the proper measurements to minimize and eliminate that problem I think that question can be addressed more to Minister Abelardo Mai. He will be able to get into details. We acknowledge that there were some issues in the past and that’s a problem we the government, you know, Belize has been able to mitigate and almost eliminate that problem. But in terms of details, all the measurements that are being put in place, the minister of agriculture will be in a better position to explain the details on the measurements that governments are putting in place.”