And while those interviews happened outside the hose meeting, today the big news Inside parliament was the presentation of the general revenue appropriations bill for 2026/2027. It's when parliament exercises its mandate to the fullest - determining how they will vote for appropriations to spend public funds. Here's Prime Minister Briceno's speech:
Prime Minister John BriceNo presented his first budget inside the newly refurbished National Assembly. It's a one-point-nine billion dollar roadmap titled "Budgeting for Belizean Prosperity.":
John Briceno, Prime Minister
"In this period of widespread upheaval…, the proud truth is that Belize continues to shine as a distinctive land - steadfast, resilient and future-focused."
"The seeds have started to sprout, stirring our nation to a seminal surge in prosperity"
But while the official headline may be "Prosperity," the presentation comes as the economy hits a visible cooling phase - after hitting post-pandemic highs. Real GDP growth is estimated at 1.9% for 2025, a sharp drop from 3.5% in 2024. The 2026 projection is a modest 2.3%.
John Briceno, Prime Minister
"As our nation is transitioning from the rapid post-pandemic rebound toward more sustainable, pre-pandemic growth conditions."
"Sustainable" may be the politically palatable term - but for economists, it signals a slowing engine as the post-COVID "bounce" officially evaporates.
The most significant pressure point is the public sector wage bill. In the last fiscal year spending on personal emoluments accounted for more than half of every dollar government earned:
John Briceno, Prime Minister
"Government's spending on salaries for its estimated 15,000 workforce - all teachers and public officers - was 598 million dollars, with an additional 123 million dollars spent on pensions and ex-gratia payments. Put differently, 58 cents of every dollar of government recurring spending goes to salaries and pensions. And put another way, 45 cents out of every dollar of tax collected are spent on just these two categories."
Despite that, government has committed to a four-percent salary increase for public officers.
John Briceno, Prime Minister
"In the upcoming fiscal year, public officers, teachers and security personnel, will benefit from another 4.0% in salary increases, valued at $28.5 million on an annual basis. This will be in addition to last year's increase of 4.5% or some $31.5 million. In total, government has pledged wage and pension increases valued at $78.7 million for this fiscal year, surely an impressive adjustment by any measure."
"For this fiscal year, 780 million dollars is allotted to salaries and pensions, representing 60 percent of total recurrent spending. This total represents a net increase year-on-year of 82 million dollars, or about 11.7 percent."
"Madam Speaker, at $780 million, the wages and pensions charges account for almost 11 % of GDP - one of the highest in the region and therefore something that we have to keep under tight control."
And how does it all get funded? Not through corporate profits, which are actually projected to shrink this year, but through consumer taxes. More than half of all tax revenue - eight-hundred-and-forty-three million dollars - will come from taxes on goods and services.
In fact, growth in Tax collection is actually outpacing economic growth. Revenue is projected to grow at nearly four percent, while the economy it rests on is only growing at two-point-three.
And while the Prime Minister touts a primary surplus, the overall reality is a 110 million dollar deficit.
The government is betting six-hundred-and-six million dollars on capital projects to stimulate growth - Briceno listed a number of them:
John Briceno, Prime Minister
"For Infrastructure Development:
- $21.9 million for the upgrading of the George Price Highway from Belize City to Belmopan
- $8.0 million for the upgrading of the Philip Goldson Highway from Mile 8 to Mile 24"
- $3.8 million for the replacement of the Belize City Swing Bridge
- $3.5 million for the replacement of the BELCAN Bridge
And, in closing, the Prime Minister reached for a a bridge to the future:
John Briceno, Prime Minister
"Yes, we may stumble. The ascent of the greatest empires has not been without falter. But their Belizean spirit will never falter. But the Belizean spirit will prevail and thrive."
Today's speech took one hour forty minutes to present. Last year's one took one hour, twenty minutes.
