BELMOPAN, Belize, CMC – Prime Minister John Briceño says it would have been difficult for the country to maintain economic growth of 12 to 15 percent after the Statistical Institute of Belize (SIB) reported that the gross domestic growth (GDP) for the second quarter of this year is 2.6 percent, the lowest growth rate since 2018.
But Prime Minister Briceño said that while it “would be difficult for us to keep 15 and 12 percent growth,” the growth reported by the SIB was “forecasted” and that the economy “ was going to slow down.
“Our first quarter, we had about 12 percent, and our second quarter, a lot of it, if you look at it, is the agricultural commodities are not doing well,” he said.
He told reporters that citrus is at its lowest, and the Ministry of Agriculture is working with other stakeholders to devise a plan to revive the sector.
“Shrimp is finally coming out of the challenges of the Early Mortality Syndrome. Bananas has a disease affecting them for the past year or so. So, we were expecting some of this.
“But as a government, we are planning a meeting on Friday as a small group to see what we need to do to continue to grow. We aim to have a minimum increase of five percent in GDP annually.
“So, now we need to look at what are the sectors that need some kind of help and what is the help can we give to ensure we can continue that growth that Belize has been since we got into government in November 2020,” Prime Minister Briceño said.
Meanwhile, the Central Bank of Belize announced excess liquidity in the country’s financial system, noting that most liquidity is concentrated in one local bank.
Prime Minister Briceño urged financial institutions with excess liquidity to increase their lending to Belizeans.
“I do believe in particular the Belize Bank who has merged with the Scotia Bank, they are the ones who have the most liquidity. But they set their policies.
“I wish there would be a bit more, would be able to loosen up a bit more to make funding more available and quicker to our citizens as there is a lot of needs, a lot of people wants to invest, a lot of people want to own their homes.
“ But, we need to find ways how we can do that. The DFC has been helping with that, and we have been changing the cash liquidity ratio of the banks and allowing that a certain portion be used for certain areas of the economy like housing and certain investments,” Briceño said.
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