The Ministry of National Defence and Border Security is clearing the air after rumors began circulating about salary cuts for members of the Belize Defence Force (BDF). The Ministry says those claims are simply not true. A recent memo from the Ministry of Finance sparked confusion, but officials now explain it was part of an administrative fix, not a pay cut. The goal? To make sure all BDF salaries, promotions, and increments match the official 2019 pay scale, which has been in effect since June of that year.
Here’s what you need to know:
- No BDF member will see a salary cut.
- No one will have to repay any past overpayments.
- Some soldiers were mistakenly placed on the wrong pay scale points — this correction fixes that.
- There won’t be any back pay for those past errors.
And there’s some good news too: starting July 2025, BDF members will receive two new allowances, the Jungle and Maritime Allowance and the Bush Allowance, retroactive from May 2024.
