The third payment has been disbursed to cane farmers and they are preparing for the season to start next Wednesday, but all is not well in the north because business owners at The Corozal Free Zone are nearing panic stage tonight as the hard currency deadlock has still not been resolved - and there's no solution in sight.
As we've reported, the Central Bank of Belize which formerly processed the tens of millions of dollars in hard currency from the zone has lost its correspondent bank relationship with HSBC - an international bank.
So tonight 17 million US dollars is sitting in a Central Bank vault and millions more are accumulating in the zone - with nowhere to go.
It is threatening to force a stoppage in operations at the zone - which would be dramatically consequential in terms of losses of jobs and of business, especially at Christmas.
The prospect of shutting down the zone may sound dramatic - but business owners are strapped and are having difficulty meeting costs and clearing containers.
The Prime Minister today confirmed that government is desperately seeking a correspondent banking relationship but with international money lau8ndering strictures in place, it has been difficult.
The Free Zone businesses say they are under extreme and mounting pressure - as the deadlock has been in effect for, going on four weeks. They say a solution must be forthcoming quickly or else something will have to give. We'll keep following the story…
Email
Print