On November 11, 2020 Belizeans went to the polls and gave John Briceno's PUP a near record landslide - rejecting the UDP 26 to 5.
From there, the party got off to a slow start - after all, not many in the new Cabinet had experience in governance - and there was widespread mistrust of a public service which the UDP had controlled for 12 years.
But, since January or February, Briceno's PUP has more or less found its footing and started to define its governance style - setting the trend in May by beating back the trade unions and cutting their salaries.
That was a success, but there have also been fails, and over the next two nights Courtney Menzies and Jules Vasquez will be giving them a report card on key areas of governance: economy and tourism, health and education, agriculture and citizen security, transparency and land and homes.
Jules starts tonight with Economy and tourism, here's his report:
With the relaxing of COVID regulations Belize's economy has performed well in 2021, with the GDP outturn spiking up and nearing pre-pandemic levels. But a high rate of unemployment persists at 11.2% in April, and the Statistical Institute of Belize found that more than 19,000 persons who had lost their jobs as a result of the pandemic still without a job. Government foreign reserves have also increased - and are almost at 6 months of cover - owing in no small part to the fact that it defaulted on its Superbond payment and got credit relief from the CDB.
And speaking of the Superbond, that is no more - government has swapped it for the Blue Bond and got major cash flow relief and a massive reduction in sovereign debt stock.
Add to that the fact of realising a small primary surplus and the overall grade is an A -, no higher because of persistent joblessness and suffering among low income earners.
Another big part of the economic comeback and foreign exchange earnings is tourism, and that has rebounded with the opening of the borders and the relaxing of travel restrictions. Overnight arrivals increased by 15% in 2021 - though recent months have seen a downturn due to rising Covid cases - and this desperate sectors needs constant earnings to keep employees on the payroll.
In the Cruise sector, stakeholders remain discontented with diminished returns, shrinking margins and a lack of leadership on government's part to pick a major cruise project. Still, they are grateful to be earning something in 20221, rather than the nothing they earned throughout 2020. The grade for this sector in a difficult period worldwide is a B+.
Courtney picks it up tomorrow with health and education - where the grades are not as good as the two you just heard. Make sure to tune in for that.
