And, global trends has sent inflation in 2022 on a 14 year high. And now with economic experts predicting a recession in the United States - which is Belize's number one trade and tourism partner - it could trigger even worse effects on the economy.
That means government could face a continued cash crunch - and one area the multilaterals always look at is Belize's ever increasing wage bill - which is now close to 700 million dollars. So, with global conditions worsening, could retrenchment be in the cards somewhere down the road? The press asked that to the Public Service Minister today:
Reporter
"Internationally, there are reports that a recession is looming. Has this been something that has taken up in a discussion in Cabinet, especially on how Belize can prepare? Is it that we will be looking at a potential retrenchment because of our hefty wage bill?"
Henry Charles Usher - Minister of Public Service
"No, we will not be having any retrenchment. We get a weekly briefing on the economy from the minister of finance whenever we have coming in and we see where the economic figures are approaching. And I have to say that we continue to see growth happening in the country despite all of the challenges. We continue to see revenue returning to the pre-COVID levels revenue collection, countrywide returning to those levels. We don't expect it to always be going up, always increasing, but certainly, we have to have it be sustainable. Yes, we have to continue to monitor what's happening internationally. The longer this war continues in Ukraine, the more of an impact it will have on basic food supply, with grains, fertilizer, and different supplies coming into the farming community. And that will impact prices in retail. So I think that we have to continue to be disciplined and tighten our fiscal belt. We want to make sure that we give the Belizean people, give the public officers every availability to make sure that they are not impacted by what's happening."
