And like every PUDP Leader of the Opposition who has sat in his seat before, Shyne Barrow was not impressed, neither with the Prime Minister's budget nor his bombast.
He said the PM failed to include the COVID context for his impressive economic figures:
Shyne Barrow, Leader of the Opposition
"I believe the prime minister is suffering from post-traumatic stress syndrome. It's been a long time he was in opposition at the hands of the former UDP Barrow administration. When the prime minister talks about these growths, you're talking about growth from covid that always is omitted. 2020 was the worst year ever for Belize, because of covid 19, not because of the UDP administration."
Reporter
"The former prime minister said he weep for whoever was coming in, because they would find was nothing that could really be worth with."
Shyne Barrow, Leader of the Opposition
"Again, we have to be realistic. Turnaround from minus 100 to 1 is not necessarily anything to claim that is remarkable. Turnaround from where it was during covid to where it was pre-covid - that's nothing to brag about. Please do your research and you come back and tell me whether this turn around that the government is talking about that the numbers, the performance is better than 2015, 2016 - any time during the UDP administration and I could bet you that there is no improvement from those pre-covid numbers, but certainly recovering from the covid pandemic which devastated our country like never before. They have returned the unemployment rate to pre-covid numbers and I am sure that this turn around that he's talking about is merely pre-covid return."
Reporter
"And what about the IMF reviews; the last 2 at least where the government is being hailed for its performance?"
Shyne Barrow, Leader of the Opposition
"The government is being hailed for returning its performance back to pre-covid. I'm telling you I have the...."
Reporter
"In comparison with growth elsewhere. Belize's growth has been significant, unexpected."
Shyne Barrow, Leader of the Opposition
"Ma'am, you're asking me about the numbers and the turn around and I have to make it clear that growth in compared to what? I'm not comparing Belize to these other third world countries that were not performing to begin with. I'm talking about the previous administration where we were performing."
