CABEI Share Increase Aims to Secure Faster Emergency Funding for Belize

Belize is buying a bigger seat at the table with the Central American Bank for Economic Integration. The government is upping its shares to four thousand; sounds small, but it comes with a big price tag: forty million U.S. dollars. Ten million will be paid over the next four years, while the remaining thirty million is ‘callable,’ meaning the bank can request it when needed. Prime Minister John Briceño says this move gives Belize more influence and faster access to emergency funds, pointing out that CABEI has already provided over sixteen million dollars in grants since 2020. The decision isn’t without controversy. Opposition Leader Tracy Panton is calling that thirty million in callable funds ‘hidden debt.’

 

Prime Minister John Briceño

“An opportunity became available for Belize in 2023 we asked to subscribe to these shares and the board accepted. And that happened because of the relationship we have built with CABEI over the last four years, going on five. So, CABEI has offered Belize to buy four thousand shares, totaling forty thousand U.S. dollars. I know that some members of this house will question where we will get forty million dollars. Well in the first portion we are asked to pay ten million dollars in the next ten million dollars in the next four years, that’s two point five million dollars in the next four years. And then the thirty million dollars will remain as callable when the bank needs it.”

 

Tracy Panton, Leader of the Opposition

“Yes, greater share holding could give Belize access to financing as the Prime Minister has outlined. And, some influence at the table. We are not against development opportunities. Here is the fiscal reality, U.S. ten million to payable capital which is twenty million Belize dollars, four annual instalment of five million Belize dollars. This at a time when families keep crying with the cost of living. When teachers and nurses are under strain and our health care system is collapsing. This money is not going to Belizeans but to bankers. And what about the callable capital risk, thirty million dollars U.S. is callable, which means that Belize can be forced to pay it whenever CABEI demands it. This is a hidden debt.”