BELIZE CITY. Thurs. June 24, 2021– While being interviewed by the media yesterday, Prime Minister Hon. John Briceño said that he believes that the International Monetary Fund (IMF) will agree to Belize’s homegrown plan of recovery, given the government’s recent actions aimed at achieving fiscal balance.

As was widely reported, the IMF has recommended that the country sign on to a standby agreement as a buffer solution for the dire economic state in which the country finds itself. The Briceño administration has been adamant that the country will instead carry out a homegrown plan of recovery, in order to avoid the dreaded measures that an IMF plan would likely require the government to put in place.

“The IMF, what they finally said publicly is what they told us privately — that, of course, the history that we have with the IMF is not a good one, so obviously there was a lot of concerns whether we would have the discipline to carry through. But they told us from early that if we can hold on to what we said we are going to do, we would be able to get out of this difficult situation,” Prime Minister Briceño disclosed.

The Prime Minister believes that the IMF has been observing how his government managed its consultations with the unions, drafted its austerity budget, and pressed negotiations with the holders of the Superbond to get an across-the-board discount and that this has reduced the doubts they had about the country’s ability to do what is necessary to achieve a fiscal rebound.

“When they saw how we managed and handled the consultations with the unions, setting up the budget, setting up the renegotiations of the Superbond, I think they saw that we are serious, that we are determined, and that we are focused in what we want to do, is to be able to fix the Belizean economy to put Belize in a sustainable path, to address the issue of the debt and address the issue of poverty and the economy and to create opportunities for everyone,” Hon. Briceño said.

Prime Minister Briceño also said that at this time his government is not planning to broaden the tax base by taxing zero-rated items, as recommended by the IMF.

“What we are looking at is trying to address what is in front of us. The whole issue of how we can get the economy going, how we can collect the taxes we should be collecting. And once we address those issues, I believe we are going to be fine. But only time will tell as to what exactly needs to be done. Right now, we have set our targets and we believe we can reach our targets if everybody does their part,” said Hon. Briceño.

Also, when he was asked to give an update on the status of the dialogue with the bondholders, the Prime Minister said that negotiations have begun in earnest.

“We will not start the actual negotiations, and we are very optimistic, we are very hopeful that we will be able to restructure the Superbond and to be able to save a large sum of money for the Belizean people,” said Hon. Briceño.