BEL’s CFE Debt Exposes Wider Foreign-Exchange Strain

BEL has the Belize dollars to pay down its debt to Mexico’s power supplier, but it cannot secure enough U.S. currency to make the payment. That problem is now fueling wider concerns about Belize’s foreign-exchange supply as businesses face a similar squeeze. We asked Economic Transformation Minister Dr. Osmond Martinez how much pressure this is placing on the country’s reserves.

 

Dr. Osmond Martinez, Minister of Economic Transformation

“ I wouldn’t say at a dangerous. I wouldn’t use the word dangerous, but what I would use is a more of an economic word, which is there is an increase in pressure now on foreign exchange, and that is simply because the cost of fuel increased significantly. And so when the government purchase the fuel, we are paying a lot more or almost double than what would used to be paid before.  But there are strategies that we also have in place. For example, within our public sector investment programs, there is a little bit over a billion dollars, US dollars, that what we need to do is to fast-track the implementation of these projects, because once these funds come into the country, then you have additional US currency that comes into the country. Also, the tourism sector to continue to boost it. And, uh, the BPOs, the call centers, because they are providing service to foreign entities, and they are being paid. When the funds come into the country, they are being paid in US currency.”

 

Despite the foreign-exchange squeeze, officials say Belize’s two-to-one U.S. dollar peg remains stable. The problem is access to foreign currency, not the exchange rate.

 

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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