Tracy Panton, Leader of the Opposition
"A lot of figures jumped out at me. The devil is always in the details and so I will reserve my comment on the budget presentation until the 26th when I respond. There seems to be quite a lot of money being invested in infrastructure and my cursory look at the budget estimates suggest that where it matter for the Belizean people, in education, in health, in housing, there's going to be some serious adjustments in terms of the government's investments. So we wait and see."

"Ultimately there has been, in my cursory review of the estimates, listening to the prime minister this morning, there's no contingency planning for what happens for example with the global trade wars that are imminent and the impact that will have on our economy. There's not indication of how we're going to deal in a holistic way the energy crisis that we're already feeling the implications of, those kinds of things. So those things matter to the Belizean people. He talked about 40%, 45% of the budget being used for emoluments and pensions and yet we have the teachers crying out because they're not being paid, even at the current levels. So there's lots to review, there's lots to analyze, and there's lots that we will respond to come the 26th of May."

Panton will lead off the debate with her formal response when it starts on May 26th. The debate is scheduled for May 26, 27th and 28th.