By: Omar Silva, NP Staff Writer

Belize City, Tuesday:14th March 2023

The current administration led by Prime Minister John Briceño is celebrating a significant achievement in reducing the country's public debt. According to Briceño, the public debt has decreased from 133% of GDP to 64% of GDP since he took office. The Prime Minister called this achievement historic.

As of December 2022, the total public debt stood at $4,031 million, representing 61% of GDP. Of this amount, $2,716 million were loans from external lenders, and $1,314 million were owed by the government to domestic creditors. 67 cents of every dollar of debt is owed to foreign creditors, while 33 cents of every dollar is owed to local creditors.

The government has paid $112 million in interest and $97.5 million in principal repayments to meet the terms of this debt stock during the fiscal year. This means that of every dollar in total revenue and grants, the government has paid 8 cents in interest. The average interest rate on public debt is just under 3%, although rising interest rates globally could increase the cost of financing public debt.

However, the information provided does not explain how much of the debt was paid off by the $112 million in interest payments and $97.5 million in principal repayments.

For the past twenty years, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has appraised Belize's public debt as unsustainable based on what it calls a debt sustainability analysis. In contrast, the current administration has reduced the debt owed by the government by over one billion dollars through its public debt administration.

Overall, the reduction in public debt is a significant achievement for the Briceño administration and could have positive implications for the country's economy in the long term.