One-Third of Government Spending Goes to Wages, Can a $8M Loan Fix It?
Belize’s public sector wage bill is consuming 33.2% of total government spending, and the Briceño administration wants to borrow $8 million USD from the Inter-American Development Bank to modernise and improve its efficiency. Prime Minister John Briceño introduced the loan motion in the House of Representatives today. He described the project as a long-term investment.
As it is now, the budget that pays all public officers in Belize for the 2025–2026 fiscal year is projected to represent about 8% of Belize’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
“While we have done a number of works to reduce the public debt from about a 120% to about 60%, we continue to face challenges with the wage bill,” Briceño said.
“The project is to improve the efficiency of the general government’s wage bill while its specific objective is to strengthen the strategic management of the public sector employment. And where the project will support its expenditure control and workforce planning, digital transformation and data analytics for human resource management, and the strengthening of institutional capacity for human resource management across the central government,” Briceño said.
The total project cost is estimated at $9 million, with the government contributing $1 million in counterpart resources. The Ministry of Public Service and Disaster Risk Management, which is currently Minister Henry Charles Usher’s portfolio, is to execute the project.
“As the minister of public service, we have been undergoing a series of reforms, a series of modernisation… A series of initiatives to bring the public service into the 21st century and this project will take us there,” Usher said.
Under the loan terms, Belize will repay the $8 million over a 25-year term, including a 66-month grace period before the first principal payment, through 39 semi-annual installments of roughly $205,128.21.
Meanwhile, Opposition Leader Tracy Panton said she supports the loan motion but wants assurance the investment produces real change. She said her support is conditional on receiving continuous project updates.