By: Omar Silva, Editor/Publisher

📰 NATIONAL PERSPECTIVE BELIZE

www.nationalperspectivebz.com

Belize City: Tuesday, May 13, 2025

The Government of Belize has unveiled a record-breaking $1.78 billion national budget for the 2025–2026 fiscal year—hailed by Prime Minister John Briceño as a sign of progress, growth, and transformation. But for ordinary Belizeans—struggling with soaring costs, stagnant wages, and deepening inequality—this budget may feel more like a death sentence wrapped in colorful rhetoric.

Behind the economic jargon, bar graphs, and parliamentary applause lies a harsh truth: the Belizean people are being left to carry the weight of a fragile economy, while the government races to pour hundreds of millions into roads, ports, and cruise tourism. This budget, in all its grandiosity, will not rescue struggling households, fix a crumbling healthcare system, or lower electricity bills. It will not ease the burden at the grocery store, at the pump, or in the classroom. It will, however, demand more from a public already stretched beyond its limits.

$1.78 Billion In Spending, But Not For You

Let’s not be fooled by the headlines. While the Prime Minister boasts of 8.2% GDP growth—the highest in the hemisphere after oil-rich Guyana—the budget itself shows no meaningful expansion of funding for the people’s most urgent needs.

• Education? Flatlined.
• Healthcare? Underfunded.
• Housing? Neglected.
• Cost-of-living support? Missing.
• Wage adjustments for teachers and public servants? Not happening.

Instead, a staggering $528 million—nearly a third of the entire budget—is being sunk into infrastructure projects. Roads. Ports. Cruise terminals. While some of these projects are important, they won’t feed families, and they won’t fix the structural poverty that grips most of rural and working-class Belize.

The Wage Bill Balloon: Paying More, Delivering Less

Fifty-two cents of every tax dollar goes to salaries and pensions. That’s $698 million, over half the recurrent budget. And yet, teachers are crying out for their increments. Police are under-equipped. Nurses are underpaid. The wage bill is eating the entire house—but the roof still leaks.

This isn’t sustainable. And the government knows it. Yet they continue to reward the top-heavy public sector and politically connected elites while leaving front-line workers behind.

The Global Storm Is Already Here

Let’s not pretend Belize exists in a vacuum. Global economic conditions are spiraling:

• Fuel prices are rising.
• Shipping costs are climbing.
• U.S. interest rates and trade wars threaten our imports.
• Climate disruptions are growing.

And Belize? We are completely exposed. Our dollar is pegged at 2 to 1 with the U.S. dollar. That means we import not just goods—but also America’s inflation, its debt cycles, and its economic shocks. Yet this budget has no contingency plan for any of it.

There is no fuel subsidy plan. No food security strategy. No public energy transition initiative. Just blind optimism.

Tourism Fetish, National Risk

We are sinking more money—public and private—into cruise tourism. A shiny new $400 million port is being pushed forward. But let’s ask the real question: What happens if cruise arrivals drop tomorrow? A hurricane? A global recession? Another pandemic? Our economy crumbles.

The emphasis on tourism at the expense of self-sufficiency is a ticking time bomb. This budget doesn’t diversify Belize’s economy. It shackles it even tighter to a volatile, unpredictable industry.

Jackpot Lottery, But For Who?

The government raked in $111.2 million from the National Lottery in 2024. And yet, there is no transparency on how that massive revenue is being spent. Communities are still waiting for clinic upgrades. Schools still lack proper facilities. Meanwhile, politicians smile at ribbon cuttings and photo ops while real progress is postponed.

The Lost Opportunity of a Lifetime

Let us not forget: Belize was promised a $125 million grant from the U.S. Millennium Challenge Corporation. It was earmarked for education and energy development. But that grant is now on life support—and this government shrugged it off, saying it wasn’t part of the budget. How convenient.

That money could have revolutionized how we teach our children and power our homes. But instead, we are told to “hope for the best.” The people deserve better than excuses and blind dependency.

What Will Belizeans Have to Live With?

Let’s be blunt:

• You will pay more for fuel, for food, for rent.
• You will see no relief on electricity or water bills.
• You will still struggle to get healthcare in an emergency.
• Your children will sit in overcrowded classrooms with underpaid teachers.
• Your job, if you have one, will still be underpaid and insecure.
• And your government will ask you to tighten your belt—while they pave a new road for a cruise ship to roll in.

Conclusion: A Prosperity Parade with No Shoes for the People

This is not transformation. This is window-dressing, dressed in billion-dollar digits and polished promises.

A responsible government puts people before politics. It invests in resilience, not dependency. It plans for turbulence, not just applause.

If this is what “From Promise to Performance” looks like—then Belizeans must brace themselves. Because beyond the budget speech and the polished numbers lies a deeper truth: we are heading into economic headwinds barefoot, while our leaders ride in armored vehicles on newly built highways.

It’s time to stop clapping. It’s time to start asking real questions. And it’s time to demand a budget that puts the Belizean people first.