And while that unprecedented crime raises concerns all along Belize's coastlines - today in Belmopan, the view was much wider as Prime Minister John Briceno made his third budget presentation.
It's called the General Revenue Appropriation Bill - and it's the lifeblood of all government operations, and the highest function of the parliament to approve spending of these funds - a 1.6 billion dollar budget for the next year.
The PM gave it a kind of vanilla name - dubbing the presentation: "Delivering on Plan Belize" - but it was his most forceful presentation yet - perhaps aided by a fancy new teleprompter. But for all the political bravura - he started with a soft touch. Jules Vasquez was in Belmopan:
The PM came into the meeting like a prize fighter on a winning streak: sustained strong growth and record low unemployment, but he started with a nod to women.
John Briceno, Prime Minister
"Cabinet determined that effective 1st April all taxes will be removed from sanitary products for women."
"Madam Speaker as the member from Belize Rural Central said to her Cabinet Colleagues, it is past time that we put an end to taxing women's femininity, something she attributed to young Seidy Quetzal who is running a campaign "don't tax my femininity.""
And though he started pink from there the PM went into BLU overdrive- boasting of his government's signal accomplishments in the economy:
John Briceno, Prime Minister
"The economy is growing, expanding in 2022 by an estimated 12.4 percent, more than 10 times the average annual growth rate of 1.7 percent experienced under the UDP administration. Ten times!"
"More Belizeans have jobs - 95 percent of those who seek employment are working. 95%! Thanks to a PUP Government. Fourteen thousand public officers, teachers and security personnel received a restoration of their full wages last July."
"And a few weeks from now, more specifically, starting 1st of April, we will restore increments for our deserving public officers, teachers, police, BDF and coast guard."
"For the first time in a generation, Belize's public debt is deemed sustainable, as the country's indebtedness has been cut in half in just the last two years."
"And once again, I table a new Budget today that contains a primary surplus and a Budget that does not include any tax increases WHATSOEVER!"
And while the overall economic news was good, it wasn't all good news:
John Briceno, Prime Minister
"In the primary sector which edged lower by 0.9 percent during 2022, lobster, chicken and yellow corn saw increases while banana, citrus, shrimp and cattle experienced contractions."
"Inflation in Belize rose to 6.3 percent for 2022, up from 3.2 percent in 2021."
And in the banking sector, there was also some concern:
John Briceno, Prime Minister
"Excess liquidity amounted to $702.9 million, 91.9 percent above requirements, a situation which the Regulator is actively reviewing."
"Non-performing Loans (NPLs) have crept higher to 7 percent of gross loans, a shade higher than the prudential ceiling of 5 percent, primarily due to pandemic-induced business contractions and in some cases, excessive risk-taking."
And, government also overspent - despite presenting four supplementaries
John Briceno, Prime Minister
"On the expenditure side, total spending, including supplementary allocations approved during the Fiscal Year is expected to be 1,436 million dollars, which is 71 million dollars or 5 percent more than the original estimate."
"Recurrent expenditure will come in 48 million dollars more than the original estimates."
And to bridge the financing gap….
John Briceno, Prime Minister
"This year's budget will require total financing of about 178 million dollars, to be sourced from the following loan facilities:"
"120 million dollars from the IFI lenders, namely the IDB, the CDB, the World Bank, CABEI and the OPEC Fund, 30 million dollars from the Republic of China (Taiwan); and 28 million dollars from domestic borrowing."
And what the Prime Minister will hang his hat on - is the reduction in debt stock:
John Briceno, Prime Minister
"I invite those on the other side to consider this fact: the public debt surged by two billion dollars between 2009 and 2020, from $2.2 billion to $4.2 billion."
"In contrast, this Administration, through its public debt management operations, has reduced the amount owed by the Government by over one billion dollars."
"Even Jules Vasquez di clap."
I wasn't, but the Prime Minister was on a roll - he was even talking about magic: The magic, the marvel of Plan Belize has only just started.
John Briceno, Prime Minister
"We push on ensuring that our efforts will lead to more homes, more of our children in schools, more persons included in NHI, more land in the hands of first time landowners, a more efficient and effective public service, more jobs, a stronger social safety net, safer cities and yes cleaner and greener rivers, streams and sea."
The overall deficit for Fiscal Year 2023/24 will be 1.41 percent of GDP, about 88.1 million dollars. That will leave budget financing requirements of 210 million dollars to be sourced from Loans, Grants from friendly nations and Domestic Financing.
