The government wiped away 257 million U.S. dollars in debt when it bought out the super bond and substituted it with the Blue Bond.
That brought Belize's debt stock down significantly, and another huge tranche of debt that the government now wants to renegotiate is Petro Caribe that stands at about 230 million US dollars. And just like they did with the Superbond, government is hoping to buy back that debt for cents on the dollar.
It's much like what happened in Jamaica in 2015 and it's a solution that Belizean media personality turned Jamaican financial expert Kalilah Enriquez now Reynolds suggested to Prime Minister John Briceno when he was a guest on her show Taking Stock Live on Monday.
Their paths first crossed when they both appeared on Sunup on 7 and two weeks later they reunited via Zoom, where the P.M. explained that when it comes to improving Belize's finances there's no avenue that he's not willing to try.
Kalilah Reynolds, hosts
"One of the steps Jamaica took in order to bring that debt to GDP down and over debt down, which has a tremendous effect as well was buying back the Petrocaribe debt. So is Belize in any position to take a similar type of step?"
Hon. John Briceno, Prime Minister
"Yes, we are working on that right now and we hope to be able to make an announcement by end of this year and we are aiming for substantial savings for the Belizean people. So we are working hard from all angles, from every conceivable idea that you could think about. trust me, we are thinking and looking at it and see how we can use it to benefit our country. We need to reduce the debt to GDP, we need to create that fiscal space, because we still have a lot of investments that we have to do as a country to be able to develop it and to continue to attract investment, both local and international investment into Belize."
You can find a link to the show at 7Newsbelize.com
