High Fuel Costs Ripple Across Belize’s Economy

Fuel prices are not just climbing at the pump. They are driving up the cost of doing business across Belize. From farmers hauling crops in the north to tour operators moving guests and supplies to the cayes, diesel prices, which are above fourteen dollars a gallon and expected to rise again at midnight, are squeezing profits and forcing businesses to make tough choices. Bus operators say they are struggling to keep their vehicles on the road, while many of those added expenses are ultimately landing on consumers. News Five’s Britney Gordon examines how the fuel-price shock is rippling through the economy. Here’s the story.

 

Britney Gordon, Reporting

In April, tensions over high fuel cost reached a boiling point when frustrated members of the Belize Bus Association (BBA) blocked the Phillip Goldson Highway, bringing traffic to a standstill. Just last week, Belizean commuters narrowly avoided another transportation disruption after BBA members reignited their call for a fuel subsidy.  The association has given the government more time to consider the matter, but its concerns remain unchanged.

 

Ferland Gilharry, Member, Belize Bus Association (File: March 31^st, 2026)

“At the present moment, this fuel price is in reality a crisis for independent bus operators, school bus operators, the individual bus operators that have independent operation, not with the new one that is formed but this one. All we ask for is a fair playing level field.”

 

 

 

 

At more than fifteen dollars a gallon for premium and as much as sixteen dollars for diesel, Belize’s high fuel prices are hitting far beyond the pump. Businesses across multiple industries are paying more to operate, and consumers are increasingly carrying those added costs. UDP Chair Sheena Pitts says the sustained prices are tightening budgets and placing even greater pressure on households and businesses.

 

 

 

 

Sheena Pitts, Chair, United Democratic Party

“In March, when diesel rose to fourteen point five five per gallon, the government tax component alone was approximately three dollars and sixty-eight per gallon. High diesel alone does not stop at the gas station. The farmers pay it. The fishermen pay it. The bus operator pay it. The tour operator pay it. The truck delivering vegetables to the market pay it. And eventually, ladies and gentlemen, the Belize consumer pays all of it.”

 

 

 

High fuel prices are also taking a toll on Belize’s tourism sector. The travel and leisure industry accounts for roughly half of the country’s total Gross Domestic Product. According to Reynaldo Malik, President of the Belize Hotel Association, profit margins are shrinking.

 

Reynaldo Malik, President Belize Hotel Association, (File: August 21, 2026)

“We’ve had almost a thirty percent increase in fuel prices. Fuel is necessary to the hotel industry. We have vans, we have shuttles, we have our properties that are off grid that have to run on generators twenty-four hours a day. You realize that, for instance, any property that is running on generator twenty-four hours a day, their fuel costs went up.”

 

 

 

For Caye Caulker hotel owner Alina Saldivar, high fuel prices are already reaching tourists’ pockets. Saldivar, who operates Island Magic Beach Resort and Island Magic Villas, says businesses have little choice but to raise prices as transportation and operating costs continue to climb.

 

 

 

 

On the Phone: Alina Saldivar, Owner, Island Magic Beach Resort & Island Magic Villas

“We already had to increase food prices at our restaurants because of the inflation, so it’s no secret, you know, of all the fuel and electricity and food supplies inflation that has happened recently. And you have to remember that also Caye Caulker, everything is transported to the island by boat. So I have to make trips. I have to send my resort boat for all of my restaurant and hotel supplies to the city twice a week. We do our laundry in the city, so all dirty laundry is transported back and forth. So that’s a lot of fuel expense.”

 

 

 

High fuel costs are adding even more pressure to Belize’s sugar industry, which is already grappling with its lowest cane yield in over three decades.

 

Alfredo Ortega, Vice Chair, Belize Sugar Cane Farmers Association

“It reached this top, above sixteen dollars per gallon of diesel and, and the other type of fuel. That is really hurting the farmers because all of us depend on fuel for movement to, to, to take care of the cane field, to take the, the cane to the, to the mill. Everything we need fuel to do. So and once fuel is up, everything raises and the price of cane is really low.”

 

 

 

 

With fuel prices continuing to strain businesses across multiple sectors, industry leaders say the effects are far reaching and are driving up expenses throughout the economy. Stakeholders now warn that without change; consumers will ultimately bear the burden. Britney Gordon for News Five.

 

Attention readers: This online newscast is a direct transcript of our evening television broadcast. When speakers use Kriol, we have carefully rendered their words using a standard spelling system.

 

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