Budget Talks Heat Up in Belmopan

It’s budget season in Belmopan and the numbers are big, bold, and stirring up plenty of debate. For the next three days, members of the House of Representatives are deep in discussion over a nearly two-billion-dollar national budget for the upcoming fiscal year. Two weeks ago, Prime Minister John Briceño laid out his one-point-seven-eight-billion-dollar plan, covering everything from roads and infrastructure to education, healthcare, and social support. But not everyone is convinced. Opposition Leader Tracy Taegar-Panton came out swinging today, calling the budget “optimism passed with selective statistics.” In her opening remarks, she argued that while the Prime Minister’s presentation may have been polished, it missed the mark on addressing the real, urgent needs of everyday Belizeans.

 

Tracy Panton, Leader of the Opposition

“The government has prioritized a single high visibility intervention, the NHI roll out for the Cayo district. While neglecting other key components, boost, grocery bag assistance, housing for the underprivileged, skills training for the unemployed, healthcare for the elderly and abuse, and labor protections for those who are victimized. All are necessary for a comprehensive and resilient social protection system. It is on this platform that the PUP was first elected to govern in 2020 and again in 2025. The rallying cry, the promise of plan Belize and Plan Belize two 2.0 is that everybody fuh win, todos ganamos, we the stay pan track, let us be fair. While the roll out of our community-based healthcare made accessible to all Belizeans is indeed welcome, one program does not a system make. I hope to make the case on behalf of all Belizeans that the numbers presented by this Briceño administration does not, and let me say that again, does not signal performance. Rather it reveals a government that is obsessed with spending and allergic to accountability, reform and measuring the economic impact of their failing social protection policies.”