By Brianna Bennett

Copyright greaterbelize

Belize Expands Stake in CABEI Amid Controversy

Belize is paying big money for a bigger voice. The government is buying more shares in the Central American Bank for Economic Integration, CABEI, four thousand of them, at a cost of forty million U.S. dollars. Ten million will be paid over four years, but what you need to know: another thirty million is ‘callable,’ meaning the bank can ask for it anytime. The Prime Minister says this move gives Belize more influence and faster access to emergency funds. But critics, including opposition senators in the upper house, call it ‘hidden debt’ and are asking the hard question, where will the money come from, and will Belizeans end up footing the bill?

Patrick Faber, UDP Senator

“Where is the money going to come from because we have not heard that, that five million dollars a year? Will we borrow it again? Will we cut from health or education, or will we quietly introduce new taxes which is not far-fetched with this administration at all, Madam President. Something has got to give. Will they introduce these new taxes on the backs of the Belizean people? The government, in this motion, Madam President, has not explained. But if that is not bad enough, we hear of another U.S. thirty million dollars, sixty million dollars that will be callable. Let us be clear what this means, Madam Speaker, it means that Belize is legally pledging to pay this money if and when CABEI makes a call. That is a contingent liability, a debt that is waiting to happen and again, I refer to the comments of the foreign minister in the House of Representatives last week Friday, when he said, “Oh, that barely ever happens. That rarely ever happens.” That is the kind of mentality, Madam President, that our leaders take on.”