Government seeks an additional 78 million dollars for this fiscal year

Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, Hon. John Briceño, this afternoon presented two General Revenue Supplementary Appropriation Bills in the House of Representatives, seeking parliamentary approval for additional funding required within the current fiscal year. The two bills, Supplementary Appropriation (2024/2025) (No.2) Bill and Supplementary Appropriation (2025/2026) Bill, were brought forward together to address urgent financial needs across key government ministries and national projects.  In presenting the bills, the Prime Minister explained that Government requires just over $78.7 million Belize dollars in the first supplementary bill. Of that amount, $20.5 million is earmarked for recurrent expenditure, ensuring that ministries can maintain essential services and meet operational obligations through the remainder of the fiscal year.  He added that $9 million will support Capital III expenditure, while the largest portion, $49 million, is being directed toward Capital II projects. These funds cover critical infrastructure, public works, national programs, and ongoing development initiatives that require supplemental financing as the fiscal year progresses.

John Briceño, Prime Minister of Belize: “The Ministry of Finance accounts for some $10.5 million, which includes approximately $4.5 million for various mandatory international contributions. The UDP was not for years when you were in government was paying the subscription that they had to pay for these different international bodies that we belong to such as the Institute of Meteorology and University of the West Indies. One million dollars for printing services across governments, various grant allocations including about a quarter million from UNDP, $435,000 dollars for a new X-ray machine at the Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital. Immigration accounts for $1.1 million dollars for the purchase of additional passports. It’s important to point out that this $1.1 million is recovered with the sale of these passport booklets when Belizeans apply for their passports.. The Ministry of Home Affairs accounted for some $3.7 million dollars largely related to the cost of our recruitment squad number 98. This new squad had about 225 new recruits to bolster the ranks of the police department at a time when citizens security persist as a major focus of the government. The Ministry of Rural Transformation, Community Development, Labor and Local Government accounted for $2.2 million, almost entirely accounting for the transfer of the head tax on Belize City Council for the period July 2022 to September 2024. What is happening is that this head tax goes into a sinking fund and it’s only when the time to pay the sinking fund then the city council asked us to give them the money that we’ve collected under that and that came up to $2.2 million. Lastly, the Ministry of the Blue Economy and Disaster Risk Management accounted for $1.5 million and that spending was mostly entirely to augment the budget of the National Fire Service. In regards to capital II allocation, I wish to highlight the following investments. $10 million dollars was to the Office of the Prime Minister and allocated to the Constituency Development Fund, the CDF, and that benefits all 31 constituencies. Even the UDP gets money from that, all of them. $9 million dollars attributed to the Ministry of Infrastructure, Development and Housing, which funded the new road from the village of Bullet Tree to the Spanish Lookout. $1.3 million was for dollars was attributed to the Ministry of Finance for vehicles and the vehicle tracking system. Under this government, Madam Speaker, now that we’re putting tracking systems and now event that we’ll be able to shut down vehicles over the weekend that cannot be used only if we have permission. We are really starting to see a decrease in the amount of fuel that is being used. The Ministry of Finance used $1.1 million for awards, settlements and compensations and $1.6 million for the Financial Intelligence Unit. We have $3.2 million for the Ministry of Public Service. Again, that’s for the funding, remember Madam Leader of the position, March of 2025, I know  that called General Elections. Remember that? We only spent $3.2 million for the public service and I’m must thank the l honorable member from Fort George who continues to lead that ministry. We have $2 million linked to the Ministry of Public Service, Utilities, Logistics and E Governance for the initial funding of a national ID program. $5 million attributed to the Rural Transformation for various streets and public roads improvements in several of our municipalities and for a reverse osmosis water system in the village of Sarteneja. $2.7 million for the Ministry of Health, which includes $1.2 million for the construction of a pediatric ward in the Northern Regional Hospital, and $600,000 towards new ambulances. $2.6 million for the Ministry of Education relating to the National Healthy Start Feeding Program benefiting some 50,000 primary school students as well as contributions to the a Wi-Fi program for schools. And one final mention is the $800,000 spent on surveys and mapping for the Ministry of Natural Resources as we continue to work assiduously under the leadership of the DPM to get lands in the hands of the Belizean. On capital II allocations from the Office of the Prime Minister you have $2.7 million. This is, again, the fund project pipelines in the social investment funds, usually water and schools and now security. $4.4 million from Infrastructure Development and Housing, which includes spending for the Caracol Road, recording various disbursements from OFID and CDB, as well as $600,000 for road safety. Lastly, $1 million on the Ministry of Sustainable Development relating to the 24 sanitary landfill. The sanitary landfill, they already got filled up and so they have to dig more areas where it could store the garbage. So the house is being asked to consider and approve this supplementary appropriation on the basis that for fiscal year 2024, 2025, the total recurrent revenues and grants surpass the approved budget by approximately $125 million dollars or by more than 8% of the forecasted amount.”

Leader of the Opposition, Tracy Panton, rose and expressed concerns over government spending and how it will affect the taxpayers in the longer term.  She gave the usual political rhetoric on the cost of fuel, the cost of living and the plights of the Belizean people, as a backdrop as to why her opposition side would not be able to support the Appropriation Bill.

Tracy Panton, Leader of the Opposition: “This is not incidental spending. This is not, Madam Speaker, a technical adjustment as the Prime Minister wants us to believe. This, Madam Speaker, is a massive overrun. A giant fiscal wake up and a glaring inducement on a government that has lost a government that has lost control of its priorities. And a government, and I want you to pay attention to me, member for Orange Walk Central that has lost control and lost the confidence of the Belizean people. Madam Speaker, the members on this side of the House will not support the bill in its current form. Tell us, Madam Speaker, what new allocations would be given to support our safety net initiatives for families who keep falling in the margins, those who are most vulnerable in our communities? Tell us, Madam Speaker, if this is the only supplemental we can expect from the government for the remainder of this financial year and if the trend of this administration, Madam Speaker, proves anything this supplemental or these two supplementals are just the first of many.”

Rising to back the government on the Appropriations Bill were Area Reps for Freetown and Fort George, Francis Fonseca and Henry Usher, respectively.  Usher, who represents the public service highlighted to the opposition leader that by rejecting the bill, she is rejecting the salary increases for the teachers and public officers.

Henry Charles Usher, Minister of Public Service: “But Mr. Speaker, for the opposition to come into this house and say that they are not going to support this budget we have to tell the Belizean people what exactly they are not supporting. Because they are not supporting investments in people. One of the major parts of this particular supplementary, Mr. Speaker, is the salary adjustment that was negotiated with the Public Service Union, with the BNTU that is benefiting all public officers. On October 1st, it came into effect, the first 4.5%. That was not a foreseen expense. It’s something that came after the discussions with the unions, with the joint union team. So I am here to say yes, I do support the spending on our public officers. I do support that they should have gotten that 4.5% salary adjustment. The opposition says no. The opposition said they will not support that budget. They will not support that allocation. They are saying that they will not support the 4.5% salary increase. But Mr. Speaker, in addition to that, also what was negotiated in the last round of the collective bargaining agreement was an increase in transfer grants that also is a benefit to public officers when they move from one location to the other. According to the collective bargaining agreement that was signed by the prime minister last year those transfer grants were increased that is included in the supplementary Mr. Speaker and I think the opposition has to explain to the Belizean people why it is that they would vote against such an allocation.”

As it relates to the second bill of the General Revenue Appropriations, Prime Minister Briceno, also ran through the figures amounting to 132 million dollars which we will bring to you later in this newscast.