BELIZE CITY, Mon. Feb. 23, 2015–Last Thursday, an official of the Ministry of Finance indicated to us that the price ease that was benefitting premium gasoline users, with the per gallon price being $8.03, while the price of regular gas was actually higher, at $8.04 a gallon, would come to an end around mid-week this week, but it turns out that later that same night, the Government of Belize, via the Ministry of Finance, implemented new controlled prices at the pumps, which has resulted in premium customers now paying nearly 10% more for a gallon of gas.

The price adjustments implemented last Thursday night mean that consumers are now paying $8.80 for a gallon of premium gasoline while consumers of regular gasoline are now paying $8.13.

Since January, Venezuela has suspended its exports of premium fuel to Belize, and so Belize has had to source the fuel from elsewhere.

Meanwhile, as the country continues to import regular gasoline from Venezuela, suppliers of both types of fuel charge Belize at world market prices, which lag behind crude oil prices. Today, those prices have fallen off their peak of over US$60 a barrel, which means that, all things being equal, consumers should get another reprieve in pump prices in the weeks ahead.