And, Minister Mai would also be studying the sharp increase in exports last month.
For the month of April, Belize's imports rose by a whopping 48.4% - representing an increase of over $152.3 million. The SIB says Greater purchases across almost all commodity categories led to this surge in overall imports, with expenditures of 'Mineral Fuels and Lubricants', 'Machinery and Transport Equipment' and 'Manufactured Goods' in particular rising substantially during the month.
A large part of the comparative increase is that the country did not purchase either diesel or premium fuels in April of last year due to the COVID shutdown.
The importation of 'Food and Live Animals' was the only category to have shown a notable decrease during the month, falling by $3 million from $23.2 million in April 2020 to $20.2 million in April 2021, due largely to reduced imports of wheat and corn seeds.
April also saw domestic exports decrease by 5.9%, or $45.5 million. Decreased sales of citrus products and molasses were the main cause of this overall downturn in export revenues. Earnings from citrus exports dropped by 50 percent when compared to April of last year, because there was less orange concentrate and no orange oil exported during April 2021.
Bananas, on the other hand, recorded the largest increase for the month, with earnings from this product going up by $1.4 million.
