Higher Threshold, Same Loophole? The $10K Threshold Will Rise

Prime Minister John Briceño this morning confirmed the government’s $10,000 payment threshold is about to change. It was revealed during a CTV3 interview livestreamed on his official Facebook page, where Briceño defended former Miss Universe Belize Isabella Zabaneh for clearly stating her position about government procurement practices, calling it “unfortunate”.

Zabaneh faced mounting public backlash after she called for the $10,000 threshold to be raised, saying it “burdens the office of financial secretaries” and calling it “micromanaging everybody from the top down to the bottom”. Her comments landed in an already fragile public scrutiny over the ‘Mira Millions’.

PM Briceño commended Zabaneh for her “courage to say something that everybody knows. But because of the present circumstances, everybody is afraid of saying it.”

And much like how Zabaneh said in her meeting during the PUP’s council meeting, the PM said the current cap made sense when the national budget sat under one billion dollars. It now stands at $1.8 billion, with government purchasing $400 to $500 million in goods and services annually.

“It becomes almost impossible at ten thousand or below ten thousand,” according to PM Briceño.

Under the incoming Central Procurement Unit, ministries will submit every purchase through a single portal, publicly visible, even under the new, higher threshold.

“So, what has happened where you see one company having hundreds and hundreds of payments under ten thousand, it will be impossible for it to happen,” Briceño assured.