Cordel Defends Briceño Administration’s Record on Cost of Living

Deputy Prime Minister Cordel Hyde shifted the conversation today by arguing that Belizeans aren’t paying more at the grocery store or the gas pump because of anything the government has done, but because the world keeps throwing crisis after crisis at small economies like ours. He reminded Belizeans that the country didn’t spark any of the global shocks driving prices up, from supply‑chain disruptions to geopolitical conflicts. And even with that pressure, Hyde said the government is still widening its social safety net, pointing to expanded support programs and what he described as unprecedented access to free education.

 

Cordel Hyde, Deputy Prime Minister

“I noted that the leader of opposition did support what we are doing in this budget, is that we are spending seven hundred and eighty million dollars for salaries and pension for teachers and public officers without having to borrow a million for day, that is what we are doing. And we give pay raise. I am sorry to disappoint them on the other side, dah nuh we start no war you know. We never started COVID. We don’t cause hurricane and droughts. As much as you blame the rains and the storm, the heat and the droughts and everything else under the sun on us, we don’t cause inflation that is imported. We don’t cause higher prices, that is inflicted. We have not raised taxes. We have not done any of those things. What we have done, we have provided free education like never before.”

 

Small States Can’t Escape Global Shocks, Says Fonseca

 

Francis Fonseca widened the lens on today’s debate, reminding Belizeans that no matter how hard the country works to steady its economy, small states like ours simply can’t escape the shockwaves of global turmoil. He pointed to wars abroad, natural disasters, and worldwide inflation, crises Belize has no hand in creating but still ends up paying the price for. Fonseca said those ripple effects hit everyday life in very real ways, from higher fuel costs at the pumps to the rising prices families face across the board.

 

Francis Fonseca, Area Representative, Freetown

“As the deputy prime minister has pointed out, we are living in very challenging times globally and there are many things that small countries cant control, small states cant control, many things we have no control of. That is just the nature of the global order. We are experiencing a war right now in the middle east. We have nothing to do with that war. But we have to deal with the consequences and implications and it will affect the entire globe. When we have natural disasters, we are prone to hurricanes in Belize. We have no control over that. But we have to deal with it. Global inflation, when there is inflation we have no control over it. Our little Belize cannot impact inflation globally but we have to deal with the consequences, the realities of it. We see those realities in our stores, on the counters in the shops, on the prices of goods, in the cost of all the components that goes into production. So we have no control over that, oil prices we have no control over those things.”

 

Fonseca wrapped up by reminding Belizeans that global crises, not local policies, are behind the rising costs families are struggling with today.

 

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.

 

Watch the full newscast here: