After Mahler, the rest of the morning, and part of the afternoon was dominated by the Collet area rep, Patrick Faber. He was the only other opposition member who spoke, and his speech lasted two hours and twenty minutes. He scrutinized the budget, and criticized several ministers and their speeches. He also debunked some of the statistics the Briceno administration has been bragging about. Here is a snippet of his rebuttal.
Patrick Faber, Area Rep, Collet
"He cites economic growth rates of 4.5% in 2023 following in 2022 an 8.7 growth rate and 17.9% in 2021. It's crucial to recognize that these figures are within the context of the global economic rebound post the pandemic. It is the pandemic that is causing the growth. But if you listen to the prime minister, you would believe that it is his government's magnificent practices and policies. The recovery then, while it is significant and it is necessary, is not fully encapsulated by the prime minister's policies and in fact it does not take into account many of the ongoing challenges faced by our local businesses, the informal sector, and the average Belizean worker. The prime minister's speech proudly cites a reduction in unemployment, he says it has gone down from 14% in 2020 to 3.4% in 2023. He's heralding this as a monumental achievement of his administration. However, comparing these figures without acknowledging the change in the calculation methodology by the SIB is misleading and it is deceptive."
"What the new formula does, it shifts the goal post. Who is considered unemployed is now altered possibly including those who are under employed, those who have given up looking for work, or those who are engaged in informal or even precarious employment from the employment count. Therefore the dramatic reduction that the prime minister heralds in unemployment figures does not accurately reflect an increase in meaningful and sustainable employment for the Belizean people."
"When I searched the IMF page, I searched the World Bank page, every piece of statistic that the internet could afford me and I couldn't find anywhere that the debt to GDP ratio rose to 132%. But it is convenient again to you on that side to paint a picture that is completely wrong. What I found is what you found, 103%, in fact the IMF page says no data submitted."
"The Prime Minister claims that there is a decrease in inflation rates from 6.3% in 2022 and he anticipates that it will drop further to 3.1% and then it will go even lower, according to him, to 1.3% over the medium term."
"You could talk figures all you want the Belizean people will tell you, if you are grounded, if you are listening to them, member from Caribbean Shores, if you are listening to them my friend from Lake Independence, if you are listening to them, you will know that what you say does not exist. When you tell them inflation low, when you tell them the price is going down for goods and services, that has to be a disconnection."
