UDP Leader endorses loan motions, criticizes PUP’s borrowing history

Published by BBNTEAM at February 4, 2023

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Posted: Saturday, February 4, 2023. 10:27 am CST.

By Zoila Palma Gonzalez: At Friday’s session of the House of Representatives, the Prime Minister introduced 3 loan motions.

The first for Trade and Investment Facilitation Program for Belize, at $8 million US.

The second loan motion was for $10 million US for the Program for Digital Innovation to Boost Economic Development in Belize.

The third loan motion was $15 million US for the Program for Sustainable and Inclusive Belize.

Prime Minister John Briceno said that the motions seek to support Belize’s efforts to make it far easier to invest and do business in Belize by implementing a digital single investment window and a foreign trade single window to eliminate bureaucracies. This will assist businesses and investors to be able to transact efficiently.

“In plan Belize, we made a commitment to digitize most of the government services and to do so as quickly as we possibly can. Over the past couple years we have been working hard in doing just that, digitizing,” the Prime Minister noted.

Leader of the Opposition, Shyne Barrow says that he agrees with the purpose of the loan motions but reminds of the history of borrowing.

“I do support the loan motions, I do agree with the purpose of the loan motions, but it has to be put on record, the miserable history of borrowing this country into debt as far as the superbond and all of the financial burdens that have been placed on the taxpayers by the PUP administration,” Barrow said.

“If the economy has rebounded, why can’t the government spend its own money why does it have to borrow every House Meeting? This is 66 million dollars in loans, in one day,” Barrow added.

The Prime Minister responded by saying that many times, borrowing is done because “we invest and we know by grow your business and then you’ll be able to pay it and create opportunities and create a profit. That’s what you do, that kind of mentality has to be brought into government, into governance.”

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