BELIZE CITY, Thurs. Feb. 17, 2022– Fuel prices have been on a constant upward trajectory for over a year, with a number of increases taking place since the new PUP administration took office in November 2020— and public discontent has been growing with each announcement of an additional price hike. This week, however, the prices of two fuel products were once again increased, but not one printed word about it was issued by the government in any formal release before that increase took place. It caught Belizeans, who are used to being informed of an upcoming price increase via a Government Press Office release, by surprise. The increases— a 17-cent jump in the price of premium fuel and a 93 cents-a-gallon surge in the price of kerosene—came into effect at midnight on Wednesday morning. As a result, the price of premium fuel is now set at $12.90 a gallon, while kerosene now costs $9.72 per gallon— almost passing the $10 mark.
The president of the Public Service Union (PSU), Dean Flowers, in an interview today expressed his views on the matter. “I think that Belizeans need to understand that they have a duty and a responsibility and push back when things aren’t going their way. They have a right to push back. It cannot be that the government will continue to rack in these large amounts of taxes on the price of fuel at the expense of the Belizean people,” he said.
He also speculated that the government has more than likely surpassed their budgeted projected revenue from fuel taxes, and is now in a position to absorb some of the costs related to the acquisition of fuel instead of passing it on as an additional burden to consumers.
“I am pretty quite sure that they have surpassed their budget numbers for fuel, right, so there is absolutely, in my humble opinion, no excuse or reason, for the government to not reconsider absorbing some of the cost associated with the shipping of that fuel. I say that because, as the Prime Minister himself said, the percentage per commodity is fixed, so clearly the higher the cost, the larger the stake for the government. So, the government, I believe, has surpassed their revenue projected where fuel taxes or taxes on fuel is concerned, and I will repeat, there should be no excuse or reason why they cannot now absorb some of that cost,” Flowers went on to assert.
The Prime Minister, Hon. John Briceño, has publicly said that the economy is rebounding much faster than expected, and has touted a 6.2 % GDP growth estimate for 2022. He mentioned those economic advancements when hinting at a possible GoB decision to end the 10% salary cut endured by teachers and public servants. When interviewed today, however, the PSU president said that fuel revenue appears to be the main driver behind the so-called economic rebound.
“The sad reality is that while we’ve been told that while we’ve been, that they, well, the economy is performing and rebounding, we now know exactly where that excess revenue over what was budgeted is coming from. The bulk of it appears to be coming from fuel, and it’s a shame that this administration, and the Barrow administration, and perhaps all previous administrations before this current one, has not seen it fit to do the correct thing, which is to subsidize the cost of fuel when it goes beyond 10 or 11 dollars.” Flowers expressed.
He said that he thinks it is something that can be done, especially if each citizen who suffers from the high fuel prices begins to protest the exorbitant prices. Flowers said that they have encouraged their public officials to use private transportation less in order to reduce their expenses. While Flowers agrees that external factors, including international supply and demand, have led to a rise in acquisition costs which have increased the price of fuel, he pointed out that it is the government’s responsibility to “spread the burden” and offer some relief at the pumps.
“Any responsible government will spread the burden rather than continuing to inflict pain on its productive citizens. Similar to how the IMF makes a lot of its recommendations that they want to ‘spread the GST’ or expand it and abolish the zero-rated items so that everybody could eat similarly, I’m saying that when the price of fuel reaches these unbearable and unsustainable limits, then perhaps time for the government to say, ‘I will absorb that’ so that it eases that burden across every single citizen rather than your most productive citizens who are already responsible—ost of the taxes being collected based on the goods and services that we consume on a daily basis.”
Notably, it was announced yesterday that the price of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (butane) would also be increased—by 33 cents per gallon.
The increase came into effect at midnight, and the retail price for a 100-pound cylinder is now $136 in urban areas, while the price of a 100-pound cylinder is $138—$2 higher—in rural areas. The Controller of Supplies, Lennox Gibson has said that the increase was the result of higher acquisition prices for “both propane and butane”.