Cabinet met today in Belmopan for the first time since the Belize Bank refunded US$10 million in Venezuelan funds. And from what we’ve been told, no decision was taken on what will be done with the money. But the matter was discussed, and we are told that the Prime Minister will announce his decision on Friday at the House meeting. At that time, he will give an address on what the government plans to do with the money and why it made that decision.
As we’ve reported, there are two schools of thought on this issue: the first says that government should hold the money in escrow pending the outcome of international arbitration in the event that it has to refund it all to the Belize Bank. The other school of thought says that government should spend the US$10 million on housing for the poor, which is what it was gifted for.
The Prime Minister is weighing those two options and keeping his cards close to his chest as he prepares to meet with Michael Ashcroft tomorrow. The meeting will reportedly be held in Belmopan and Foreign Minister Wilfred Elrington will also participate. Sources tell us that Elrington has recently been acting as a go-between with Ashcroft as the British billionaire tries to move towards a settled resolution.
The outstanding issues between Ashcroft and government are many, and the odious Accommodation Agreement figures prominently. Two arrangements arising from that accommodation are pressing right now: the first is BTL’s refusal to pay its business tax and now, BTL’s refusal to make payments on the Intelco properties. The Accommodation Agreement was hatched to get BTL to cover all the Intelco investments hat Social Security had guaranteed, and in exchange BTL would be allowed to add that to its cost of investment. And when it failed to achieve a 15% return on its investment, it would be permitted to with-hold tax payments equivalent to the shortfall. Under the Musa administration, it was allowed to withhold $7 million in business tax payments.
