Principally, government wants to adjust the interest rate. That rate is currently 5% per annum, stepping up to 6.77%, starting August 20 of this year. The Government of Belize wants to amend that by fixing it at 4% per annum starting with the next payment, which is due in a month.

To make the offer more attractive, Belize is also offering to pay holders a consent fee of 0.25% of the face value of the bond. This consent solicitation, which is simply an invitation to discuss, closes in two weeks, on January 26, 2017.

Financial Secretary Joe Waight says that Belize is not asking for any reduction in the principal, and neither is the country proposing to extend the final maturity date of the Bonds. "The proposed amendments," Waight said, "will only adjust the amortization schedule of the Bonds within its existing maturity profile and effect a modest reduction to the interest rate."