Moving from questions to statements, Prime Minister Dean Barrow spoke about the prospects for producing fuel from Belize’s oil. He said a company called Blue Sky, which already produces an industrial grade of diesel is just about to do that.
Hon. Dean Barrow,
“Blue Sky tells us that by the end of the year they will be producing the automotive diesel for everyday use. Within two months they expect to be producing their gasoline blend. They will import some ethanol and blend it with the local crude and do the refining and produce a gasoline blend. That will only satisfy about 30% of the market. But again it will be done so that the pump price is going to represent a significant net savings over the pump price for the important gasoline.
The taxes on the imported fuel provide huge budget support for the government. If we switch from imported fuel to local fuel, either we are going to tax the local fuel to make up for what we will be losing as a consequence of the shift from the imported fuel, either we are going to tax the local refining process at such a level to result in no net benefit for the consumer, our government again will have to forego revenue. This government is indicating that it will forego the revenue so that he refined product can come to the pump at a cost saving for the Belizean people that will be significant.”
As we noted earlier, Barrow’s statement on the rising cost of living will air after this newscast.
