| PM's Take on Fiscal Incentives |
| Wed, May 28, 2025 |
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And in other news from Belmopan, the Prime Minister and Minister of Finance who signed that lavish package of fiscal incentives for the Caye Chapel company today contacted our newsroom via WhatsApp to complain that our story was not balanced.
He says that these incentives were approved under the new FISCAL INCENTIVES (AMENDMENT) ACT of 2024 which creates an automatic package of tax and duty breaks for investments valued at $250 Million US dollars or more. This legislation sets a minimum investment to qualify and it lists what investors can expect - without going to ministers to ask for "special" treatment. For those who apply, Beltraide and the Investment Ministry make the analysis and then it goes to Cabinet for approval.
And the PM says that by government's calculation the total revenue foregone amounts to 182 million dollars while the investment will contribute 420 million in direct taxes and foreign exchange while hiring 820 persons during the construction phase and 615 when it is in operation. He says the Foreign Direct Investment totals 431 million US dollars.
And while we take his numbers at face value - we asked an expert to make his own calculation on how much revenue the government is forsaking during this five year period. The PM's estimate puts it at 182 million dollars, but our experts crunched the numbers and calculated it at 232.4 million - or a quarter billion dollars in forsaken revenue.
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