7 News Belize

Free Zone Foreign Currency Fright
posted (December 3, 2010)
Emergency meetings are underway at the Central Bank in Belize City right now to try and solve a looming crisis that could threaten business as usual at the Corozal Free Zone - a particularly terrifying prospect especially with Christmas right around the corner.

Acting Prime Minister Patrick Faber is meeting with Ministry of Finance Officials, the governor of the Central Bank, a cabinet subcommittee, and representatives of the free zone chamber of commerce. The problem is with making deposits in US dollars - which is the main currency of the zone. Unofficial information to our newsroom says the problem started three weeks ago when the central bank's US dollar account with HSBC was closed down - making it so that the central bank cannot deposit the US dollars which comes in from the Atlantic and Belize Banks which operate in the zone.

The problem has made it so that it is becoming difficult for the banks to make deposits - and moreover it is even more problematic to make international US dollar transfers to pay for shipments. According to the Free zone businessmen, 17 million dollars in sitting in the bank that they cannot access for transfers and it's threatening the continued operation of the zone. The zone businessman are urging the central bank to link up with another international bank to return things to normal - but they say that has already been taking too long. We'll keep following it.

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7 News Belize