7 News Belize

Will Bondholders Lose Patience with “Malpago” Belize?
posted (November 14, 2016)
The Government's press release from last Wednesday said that this restructuring effort is due to, quote, "The serious economic and financial challenges currently facing the country…" End quote.

That statement also said, "Belize's economy has significantly underperformed in comparison with the projections used at the time in setting the terms of the 2038 Bonds."

As we said, this is 3 years and 8 months after the Superbond 2.0 was floated. That was a refinancing of the original Superbond, which in itself was a re-financing and consolidation of a bunch of high interest bonds that the Musa Administration had racked up. So, this is the third time government is going to bondholders to re-finance. We asked the Prime Minister about the effect it could have on the confidence of bondholders:

Rt. Hon. Dean Barrow, Prime Minister of Belize
"Clearly we are going through some difficult times. Bottom-line is though is that a number of the assumptions that were made in common between ourselves and the bond holders when we last restructure have not proven to be valid or have not proven to be durable and so going forward we are convinced that we need a redo and this time the level of relief that we are looking for must be such that it will be absolutely sustainable even in the face of the vicissitudes that can overtake any economy."

Daniel Ortiz, 7News
"Is the government concern that the bond holders may lose confidence in our financial stability, having to restructure at such a frequency?"

Rt. Hon. Dean Barrow, Prime Minister of Belize
"Look, I don't know how the question of confidence going forward can arise. We are both in this and stuck with the arrangement which sees Belize as the debtor visage these creditors who are the holders of the bonds. We are not looking to shaft the creditors. We are not looking to screw the bond holders. We are looking to ensure that our country finally obtains the relief that is for us a sort of - the relief that for us is absolutely critical. We believe that there is a way to do this without utterly as it were seeing off the bond holders. Clearly adjustments will have to be made. But there are big people, these are experience players in the market."

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