Hon. Tracy Panton, Leader of the Opposition
PM says March 12 results show that “Belize is way better under a PUP government”
BELMOPAN, Wed. May 28, 2025
It was a historic day inside the House of Representatives on Monday, as Belize’s first woman Leader of the Opposition, Hon. Tracy Panton delivered her budget rebuttal, which she described as her maiden address. It lasted for almost two hours, with a primary focus on the need for adequate social protection programs in the face of the diminishing purchasing power of Belizeans, which she estimated to be down 20% based on her own experience at grocery stores. While Prime Minister John Briceño titled his budget speech for fiscal year 2025/2026, “From Promise to Performance,” Panton declared that a more appropriate theme would have been, “Performance Poetry to Policy Pain.”
Hon. John Briceño, Prime Minister of Belize
Pointing to non-existent UDP era programs like BOOST and the grocery bag assistance program targeting the most vulnerable in society, Panton stated that even international funding organizations have called for the establishment of a social protection floor – not as a charity, but as a sound fiscal policy for national development that “works when markets fail, when families are marginalized,” and during and after pandemics and climate shocks which impact the productive sector. According to Panton, while Government officials congratulate themselves on surpluses, and boast about GDP growth, “rural communities still lack access to basic health services, safer roads, quality education and meaningful employment.” She added that “farmers, teachers, public servants, security officers and the working poor are still waiting with bated breath for improved living conditions, salary relief, lower food prices, reduced fuel cost and access to social protection programs.”
At the same time, Panton called into question the Government’s unemployment and inflation statistics as not accurately reflecting reality. She drew attention to recent cases of people stealing food. She described the PM’s budget speech for an expenditure of $1.782 billion as rehearsed optimism “padded with selective statistics and proposals that are painfully detached from the lived experiences of ordinary Belizeans.” Panton recorded that even the gainfully employed have to engage in a side hustle to make ends meet. Conversely, she declared that the Government is prioritizing “filling the pockets of cronies….” She continued, “It seems on this side, Madam Speaker, that the Government officials are working at orchestrating their own side hustle or retirement fund.” Panton then warned the PUP, “Dis dah unu last run. Goh! Unu have to go! Come 2030, there will be a new jefa, a new boss lady in town hired by the Belizean people.”
Tackling the government’s fiscal policies, Panton emphasized that the budget numbers don’t signal performance, “rather, it reveals a Government that is obsessed with spending, and allergic to accountability, reform and measuring the economic impact of their failing social protection policies.” According to Panton, while revenue is projected to rise by $94 million, half of it depends on uncertain grants; and in the case of expenditure, which is increasing by $118 million, the Government relies “heavily on external goodwill.”
In the face of a move by the Belize National Teachers’ Union toward industrial action over an 8.5% salary increase among other demands, Panton declared her support for the Union.
When he rose to make his contribution to the budget debate, Deputy Prime Minister, Hon. Cordel Hyde, like many of his colleagues, first congratulated Panton for her accomplishment in becoming the first woman Leader of the Opposition. He commented, “I think it is a big deal. I think it’s historic – a giant step forward for women in electoral politics and parliamentary politics…” With that said, however, Hyde proceeded to excoriate Panton for her criticism of the Briceño Administration’s performance and its 5th budget. Hyde noted that, while the former Leader of the Opposition, Moses “Shyne” Barrow had the luxury of saying he was not in the Dean Barrow Cabinet, Panton could not claim the same. “She was around the table every step of the way. She stamped, affirmed, provided imprimatur to all those decisions,” declared Hyde. The DPM added, “She was there to watch scandal after scandal, and she said nothing. She was there as the last government squandered $500 million of Petrocaribe while people’s standard of living deteriorated year after year, and she said nothing…”
As to Panton’s support for the teachers’ request for a salary increase and the return of frozen increments, Hyde recalled that under the Barrow Administration in 2016, when teachers were “asking for a mere 3%, she was not in support. In fact, I could recall on TV watching her going school to school, classroom to classroom in her constituency urging the teachers not to strike.”
For his part, Foreign Minister Francis Fonseca described Panton’s presentation as disappointing – “a very weak, very lazy response.” He even said it appeared she extracted a lot from Google – “a lot of cut and paste of Googling. Chat GPT.”
In response to both Hyde and Fonseca, Panton told Amandala that she has broad shoulders and has “been able to, and will continue to take the licks because we have to do things differently, and I believe I have the capacity, the experience…We are charting a new course, we are setting a new tone for this country. It will take time to get used to, but I am sure that is what the people are asking for.”
In wrapping up the three-day debate close to 5:00 p.m. today, Wednesday, Prime Minister John Briceño said Panton saw nothing but milk and honey in the UDP budgets, “even as her administration pushed Belize to the literal brink of default and devaluation.”
To rebut Panton regarding low unemployment figures and the labour force shrinking by 26,000, Briceno reported that in September 2024, unemployment was 2.1%, while underemployment was 2.2%. He emphasized that in 2024, approximately 129,000 Belizeans were not working, but there were reasons for this for 84%, including personal or family responsibility (47,000); school attendance (24,463); disability, illness or injury (10,904); and retirement (26,364). He also shared that out of 47,000 people for whom no reason was available to explain their lack of employment, 44,300 were women. The PM shared that this number is starting to decrease because many BPOs are hiring women to work from home.
On the criticisms regarding the proposed spending in the budget, the PM stated, “How can she and her colleagues not appreciate that, despite all the massive investments in education, in healthcare, the sprawling NHI that we are spreading countrywide that will soon start here in the Cayo District, the spending on roads, streets, bridges and drains – this Government, despite all of these investments, is proposing a budget with a primary surplus of $106 million.” Briceño disclosed that earlier this month, the IMF prepared an assessment letter of Belize’s current macro-economic and fiscal performance. In the letter, said the PM, the IMF concluded, “Belize’s economy has performed remarkably well.” According to the PM the IMF is pointing to a 2025 expected growth rate of 2.23%, exceeding the historical average. As it relates to inflation, the PM says the IMF expects inflation to fall to 1.25% over the medium term from the current 1.3%. As to public debt, the PM says the IMF staff noted that there was a substantial decrease since 2020, and the projection is that by 2030, it would fall to 54.5% of GDP. The PM declared that the turnaround has been so significant “that even the IMF now believes that Belize is investment grade.”
Another statistic shared by PM Briceño concerned new hires in the public service. He stated that in 2020, the public officer workforce was 15,331, whereas it is now at 15,662, a difference of only 331 workers in five years.
The PM declared that the overwhelming result of the March 12 general elections signifies that “Belize is way better under a PUP government.”
On a side note, Panton had to pause her budget rebuttal after being on her feet for over an hour. She was experiencing excruciating pain due to knee surgery she had done months ago. A medical practitioner brought to the National Assembly assessed that she was otherwise in good health. After a 45-minute break, she concluded her presentation. After the health scare, the National Assembly retained the services of an EMT to be present for meetings of parliament going forward.