BELIZE CITY, Wed. Nov. 3, 2021 — Today, Wednesday, November 3, the Ministry of Finance announced a 61-cent increase in the pump price of diesel — which has jumped from $10.82 to $11.43 per gallon. This will be the first time in recent fuel price history that the cost of diesel will exceed $11.00. The prices of premium gasoline, regular gasoline and kerosene will, at the present time, continue to be $12.11, $11.82, and $7.69 per gallon, respectively.
The rising cost of fuel in Belize is the result of a worldwide increase in the acquisition price of refined fuel due to high global demand for oil, and a currently limited supply of this commodity.
Belize currently has the second-highest gas prices in the Caribbean — trailing behind Barbados alone, where the price of regular gas is an estimated $14.96 per gallon and the price of diesel is reportedly $11.95 per gallon.
Compared to our Central American neighbors, Guatemala, Honduras, and Mexico, however, Belize’s gas prices are dramatically higher — with per-gallon prices of fuel in Belize being, on average, about $3.00 higher than fuel prices in those countries. The prices of diesel in Guatemala, Honduras, and Mexico are BZ$6.85, BZ$7.18, and BZ$7.87, respectively, and the price of gas is $8.03 per gallon in Guatemala, $8.68 per gallon in Honduras, and $8.09 per gallon in Mexico.
Fuel prices in Belize have continued to rise over the past year. The prices of diesel, premium gas, and regular gas have seen an average monthly increase of $0.26, $0.27, and $0.26, respectively. If the trend continues, projections suggest that each respective fuel price will increase by another dollar in the next four months.
Over the past week, the Minister of Tourism and Diaspora Relations, Hon. Anthony Mahler, stated, “It is a combination of global prices. The supply chain has been affected by Covid-19 and other issues, but some of the local retailers are also increasing and price-gouging, and we know that… I don’t believe too much in price controls, but in this situation we can look at putting price controls for certain food items. Again, I know the cost of fuel is crushing right now. It’s $12 or something like that, and that is a serious problem for any business in the productive sector. It is crucial that we address this in a reasonable way, but a lot of it is outside of our hands.”
Minister Mahler noted that the Bureau of Standards will be tasked with looking at ways to mitigate the increase and that the bureau is currently conducting an assessment so that they can safeguard the general public from price-gouging through controlling the price of commodities.