7 News Belize

New Year, New Message For PM
posted (December 31, 2015)
Prime Minister Dean Barrow has released his 11 minute, 1,200 word, New Year's message - and there's some interesting stuff in there. The full message appears later in our newscast as a commercial, but for your benefit, we'll cut right to the good stuff. First, is the general outlook on government's sagging finances - which recently got a boost with new import duties on fuel. The PM acknowledged the Petrocaribe proceeds are down, and the dreaded Superbond step-up is approaching - so government needs the money - but, he made it clear, that does not mean new taxes:..

Hon. Dean Barrow, Prime Minister
"Among the challenges that we will confront, the reduction in PetroCaribe flows is perhaps the most pronounced. With the dizzying fall in oil prices, we expect to get much less from these Venezuela loan funds than we did in 2015. And already 2015's intake was only half of 2014."

"This, combined with the drying up of earnings from our own petroleum exports, will put a severe dent in Government revenues. It is what, in the face of the coming step-up in SuperBond payments and the Compensation Award expected to be handed down towards the middle of the year, has caused us to raise the duty on fuel imports. The CIF price of these is so low that we were able to judge the increase a bearable burden. And with this, which is the only tax measure we will take, Government will be able to meet debt obligations and pay for expansion in services, particularly regarding national security and the acquisition of assets such as the three BDF 3:04 helicopters and the two latest model Coast Guard boats."

"There is enough that we have set aside from the PetroCaribe days of plenty, to complete the countrywide BIL sporting projects (such as the Belize City Center) and the tourism road network improvements that we began in the last quarter of 2015. So construction proceeds apace on the Lamanai Road, the Cristo Rey/San Antonio Road, and the North Ambergris Road to the new Efrain Guerrero international Airport. IFIs including CDB, IDB, OFID, and the Kuwaiti Fund, will in turn finance the rehabilitation of the Philip Goldson Highway from the Airport junction to Belize City; the new Macal River crossing; the Hummingbird Highway; and the Belmopan to Benque redo."

"OPEC/OFID will also fund, and their Board has just approved, a completely new PGIA Link Road with a bridge over 4:20 the Belize River and extending from behind Gentrac to around Mile 8 on the George Price Highway."

That last piece of infrastructure is sure to give an added benefit to overnight tourism - which has shown very strong growth over the past few months. The Prime Minister spoke about the robust double digit growth in arrivals:..

Hon. Dean Barrow, Prime Minister
"In September, October and November of 2015, overnight arrivals exceeded the 2014 numbers for the same three months by 19.2%, 22.1% and 33% respectively. With the new Southwest and Copa airline services from the US and South America to Belize already launched; and with the scheduled commencement of direct flights from Canada in 2016, we expect to maintain and better the record breaking, year-over-year increases in stayover tourism."

"And on that front the headline news for 2016 is twofold: NCL's Harvest Caye project becomes fully operational by April and brings with it two thousand jobs for Southern Belize; and the Supreme Court ruling on Belize City Port exclusivity-or lack thereof-clears the way for us to greenlight a new, Old Capital alongside docking facility."

"This latter will undoubtedly mean a significant ramping up of cruise calls via the country's main harbour, and completes an overall tourism picture that we can paint in colors of unambiguous optimism."

"The new cruise port will be built by the private sector in some form of partnership with Government, and we expect to develop the Commerce Bight container port in Stann Creek using the same model."

So, government will partner in Stake Bank - and it is also paving the way for another large investment to get fully on stream. That's the sugar mill at Santander:...

Hon. Dean Barrow, Prime Minister
"Sugar is not currently fetching the optimum returns in the European market that we would like. Nevertheless, the huge Santander investment in a factory and cane fields in the Cayo District has now come to fruition. Grinding operations are set to start by February. And the initial amount of 350 thousand tonnes of cane to be milled, should go up in year 2 to as much as 800 thousand tonnes. Apart from the foreign exchange earnings and permanent employment that the coming of sugar to the West brings, Santander is also negotiating a power purchase agreement with BEL to supply cheap co-generation energy to the local grid."

The PM also notes that BIL, Belize Infrastructure Limited will also be re-tasked to act as a unit facilitating all public-private partnerships.

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