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Western Hemisphere > Belize

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Cover IMF Staff Country Reports
Belize: Selected Issues
International Monetary Fund. Western Hemisphere Dept.
This Selected Issue paper documents the recent episode of food inflation and food insecurity in Belize. The paper also overviews what policies were announced in Belize and the Caribbean during the recent cost-of-living crisis; and discusses the policies Belize could implement to protect its most vulnerable households from the threat of food insecurity going forward. It discusses the appropriate policies to protect vulnerable households from food price inflation going forward based on economic theory and best practices and estimates how much it would cost the government of Belize to protect the vulnerable population against a rise in food prices like the one in 2022. The authorities should evaluate the impact of the recent policy that regulates mark-ups on essential goods by wholesale and retail operators when they have sufficient data. The limits on the mark-up for 32 essential goods were introduced to limit the increase in food prices and avoid monopolistic practices.
Keywords:
food inflation; staff ream; debt target; cost of living crisis; B. food inflation; food inflation in Belize; price signals work; Food prices; Food security; Inflation; Fiscal stance; Caribbean; Global
Cover IMF Staff Country Reports
Belize: 2024 Article IV Consultation-Press Release; and Staff Report
International Monetary Fund. Western Hemisphere Dept.
The 2024 Article IV Consultation with Belize highlights that real gross domestic product growth and inflation moderated in 2023. Belize’s key policy priorities include raising the primary balance with revenue mobilization and expenditure rationalization to lower public debt to a level that provides sufficient buffers, increasing expenditure in priority areas, adopting growth enhancing structural reforms, and building resilience to climate change and related disasters. These policies would boost growth and make it more inclusive. Boosting medium-term growth requires increasing female labor force participation, enhancing access to affordable credit for small and medium size enterprises, reducing crime, improving the business climate, and adopting a disaster resilience strategy that strengthens structural, financial, and post-disaster resilience and is based on a multi-year macro-fiscal framework. Keeping vulnerable financial institutions under enhanced supervision and requesting recapitalization when needed is important to maintain financial stability. Strengthening the currency peg requires increasing international reserves by reducing public debt, implementing structural reforms and limiting government financing by the Central Bank.
Keywords:
central bank financing; money market rate; financing of the government; expenditure measure; central bank of Belize; Fiscal stance; Anti-money laundering and combating the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT); Public sector; Global; Caribbean
Cover IMF Staff Country Reports
Belize: Technical Assistance Report-Transition to Accrual Accounting
International Monetary Fund. Fiscal Affairs Dept.
This technical assistance report on Belize focuses on transition to accrual accounting. Belize is planning to transition to accrual accounting over the medium term. This reform is considered an advanced practice on the public financial management (PFM) spectrum and has been attempted by few regional comparators. The transition to accruals is a complex, resource-intensive and advanced reform that requires various preconditions to be met. The current organization and responsibilities of Treasury staff do not support the transition to accruals. Accounting reforms will take time to implement and require change management processes if they are to succeed. The Treasury does not currently have a change management culture to manage reforms and track performance. A new unit should be created to oversee change management, strategic planning, performance management, risk management as well as monitoring and evaluation. A PFM coordinating committee, chaired by the Financial Secretary, should be established to strengthen planning and internal collaboration.
Keywords:
IMF's Fiscal Affairs Department; authorities of Belize; government ministry; cash basis; accounts receivable; government accounting Manual; Fiscal accounting and reporting; Financial statements; Accounting standards; Chart of accounts
Cover IMF Staff Country Reports
Belize: 2023 Article IV Consultation-Press Release; Staff Report; and Statement by the Executive Director for Belize
International Monetary Fund. Western Hemisphere Dept.
This 2023 Article IV Consultation discusses that economic activity has rebounded strongly from the pandemic in Belize. After growing by 15 percent in 2021 and 12 percent in 2022, real GDP is projected to grow by 2.4 percent in 2023 and 2.0 percent over the medium term as spare capacity is exhausted. The key policy priorities include reducing public debt to a level that provides sufficient buffers, increasing expenditure in priority areas, implementing growth enhancing structural reforms, and building resilience to climate change. These policies would boost growth and make it more inclusive. Boosting potential growth requires enhancing access to domestic credit, ensuring predictable access to foreign exchange to attract foreign direct investment, reducing crime, and adopting a disaster resilience strategy that strengthens structural, financial, and post-disaster resilience and is based on a multi-year macro-fiscal framework. Strengthening the sustainability of the currency peg requires implementing additional fiscal consolidation and growth-enhancing structural reforms, as well as limiting government financing by the Central Bank.
Keywords:
authorities of Belize; currency peg; authorities project growth; terrorism financing risk; reform agenda; Fiscal stance; Public sector; Global; Caribbean
Cover IMF Staff Country Reports
Belize: Selected Issues
International Monetary Fund. Western Hemisphere Dept.
This Selected Issues paper studies inflation dynamics in Belize with the goal of quantifying the role of external and domestic factors in the recent inflationary episode and projecting inflation going forward. The paper applies a Principal Component Analysis to inflation data of several countries and finds that global factors have contributed substantially to both the historical variation and the recent surge in Belize’s inflation. Global factors explain most of the recent surge in inflation in Belize and are projected to reduce inflation going forward. An estimated Phillips curve also finds that external factors, proxied by food and fuel prices and US inflation, have been a key driver in the surge in Belize’s inflation during the last two years. The estimation results show that external factors have significant effects on Belize’s inflation.
Keywords:
PPPO deficit; IMF's transparency policy; inflation projection; inflation decomposition; staff team of the International Monetary Fund; Inflation; Aging; Retirement; Pensions; Food prices; Global; Caribbean
Cover IMF Staff Country Reports
Belize: 2022 Article IV Consultation-Press Release; and Staff Report
International Monetary Fund. Western Hemisphere Dept.
The COVID-19 pandemic had a severe impact on Belize in 2020, leading to a 16.7 percent contraction in real GDP and a rise in public debt to an unsustainable level of 133 percent of GDP. To address this situation, the government presented a medium-term plan to lower public debt to 85 percent of GDP in 2025 and 70 percent in 2030 by implementing fiscal consolidation, structural reforms, and debt restructuring. Significant progress towards restoring debt sustainability was made in 2021.
Keywords:
expenditure measure; PFM legislation; policy priority; calendar year GDP; central bank of Belize; Policy discussion; IMF team; Fiscal consolidation; Fiscal stance; Global; Caribbean
Cover Finance & Development
Finance & Development, March 2022
International Monetary Fund. Communications Department
Finance and Development, March 2022
Keywords:
world inequality report; public finance management systems; debt-ratio target; government funding; debt-service cost; emerging market debt ratio range; management system function; Income inequality; Value-added tax; Currencies; Global; Africa; Caribbean; Asia and Pacific; South Asia
Cover Finance & Development
Finance & Development, March 2022
International Monetary Fund. Communications Department
Finance and Development, March 2022
Keywords:
world inequality report; public finance management systems; debt-ratio target; government funding; debt-service cost; emerging market debt ratio range; management system function; Income inequality; Value-added tax; Currencies; Global; Africa; Caribbean; Asia and Pacific; South Asia
Cover Finance & Development
Finance & Development, March 2022
International Monetary Fund. Communications Department
Finance and Development, March 2022
Keywords:
world inequality report; public finance management systems; debt-ratio target; government funding; debt-service cost; emerging market debt ratio range; management system function; Income inequality; Value-added tax; Currencies; Global; Africa; Caribbean; Asia and Pacific; South Asia
Cover Finance & Development
Finance & Development, March 2022
International Monetary Fund. Communications Department
Finance and Development, March 2022
Keywords:
world inequality report; public finance management systems; debt-ratio target; government funding; debt-service cost; emerging market debt ratio range; management system function; Income inequality; Value-added tax; Currencies; Global; Africa; Caribbean; Asia and Pacific; South Asia