There was a House Meeting today at the National Assembly Building in Belmopan. In terms of length, today's meeting was short: 4 hours and 42 minutes, but the Briceno Administration tabled several pieces of draft legislation which they think represent improvements to the laws currently in effect.
We'll tell you about them, but we start first with a report from Agriculture Minister Jose Mai on the Government's decision to hold the retail price of a 16-ounce loaf of bread at $1.75.
That's not an easy ask of bakers who have seen the price of every single input from wealth to butane to plastic bags increase. They have asked for a seventy-five cent increase eon the wholesale price of a dollar and 50 cents - which would basically be a 50% increase. The Government says that was too much, given the high cost of living that Belizeans are already struggling with.
So, they compromised - with government filling in the gap. Here's an excerpt of the Agriculture Minister's report on this topic in Parliament today:
Hon. Jose Mai, Minister of Agriculture
"The current control wholesale price of $1.50 wholesale and $1.75 retail were established back then, again, this was in 2008. In mid-April of this year, representatives of the bakery industry signalled to government that there was an urgent need to review the existing control price and indicated that an increase was urgently needed. The current reality is that the bakers request for an increase in the control price of bread is being driven by increases in all and I say all core inputs used to make bread. The bakers requested that the control price for 16oz bread be adjusted upward by $.75 to a control price of $2.25 and a control retain price of $2.50. The most recent proposal coming out of the last meeting and the third proposal was tabled to cabinet on Tuesday April 31, 2022. It called for a $.25 increase in the price of 16oz bread which represents a huge improvement over the initial submission made by the bakers. Under this proposal the control wholesale price would increase from $1.50 to $1.75 and the retail price would increase from $1.75 to $2.00."
"I am pleased to announce to this honourable house and the nation that this PUP government will not authorize any increase of the control price of a 16oz loaf of bread."
