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And today the Prime Minister convened what promises to be the last press conference on the Superbond - as it has been 100% subscribed, and the bond offering will close either Friday or Monday. So, today's press conference was like a long last farewell, in which the Prime Minister had to restrain himself from gushing:

Prime Minister Dean Barrow - Prime Minister of Belize
"Some, ladies and gentlemen, 494 million Belize dollars less in debt servicing over the next 10 years, we thinks that's historic on any reconing, and the fact that we have; with this relief, been able to avoid any kind of tax heights. The gross that relief attained in 2012, 2013 and the coming 5 and 10 year periods, you will see in 2012 it's 22 million, 2013 - 66, 2013 to 2017 - 236, 2013 to 2022 - 494. There is a possibility that, with a little bit of luck and the kind of growth last year that we saw being replicated by and large, we can actually see Belize's debt to GDP ratio full to perhaps 60% by 2017. That, of course is debt, heaven, but the fact that this kind of nirvana is even within Belize's reach, I believe is testament to how successful - precisely how successful the debt restructuring team has been. Remember that we didn't pay the coupon payment that had become due in august. We didn't pay the coupon payment that would have become due in February, and so that, all together, these are rolled up into the new bond and we thereby saved 76.4 million dollars by way of these cash payments for gone. There's a point to be made; I think our financing gap this year FS is what; 84 million. If we had not succeeded, you would have had to add that 76.4 million to the 84 million, and of course that would have meant that we would no doubt have gone over the fiscal cliff."

Of course, the Ashcroft Alliance continues to hover over the entire affair like a ghost of events past. It seems the former owners of Telemedia and BEL don't like a clause in the Superbond 2.0's fine print which says that Government cannot settle with them on any better terms than it settled with the Superbond holders.

It also stipulates that the former utility owners will be compensated in Belize dollars. The PM said this swirl of conditions could create one last rush of legal drama:

Prime Minister Dean Barrow
"When the Ashcroft Alliance and the Fortis people complained about this being a fetter on Government's discretion to negotiate a settlement with them in an open-ended fashion; that presupposed first of all, that we would be inclined to go with any settlement that would see these people being paid in foreign currency - in US currency. But, we expect that these things will continue to make their way through the courts, and that ultimately the compensation that will be ordered, will be in Belize dollars. I only raise this because; while we've reach the threshold, while the exchange offer is- or the exchange process is completed, until we formally close the deal on Friday or Monday, you can't put it pass these people to try to run to court., to see if there's some way they can bring this thing to some kind of a halt, even though it appears to me that this particular train is unstoppable, and has almost reach the station."

And so while it is not a done deal yet, it is almost there. And while the savings for Belize are enormous, so are the costs. The Prime Minister didn't have an answer today, but we know that doing business at this level when international law firms and consultants have to be hired can be very costly. And while he didn't have a figure, the PM conceded those costs:

Prime Minister Dean Barrow
"There's nothing to hide. It's - the cost is, in Belizean terms, astronomical, but when you look at the savings that we've realized, it's a price we had to pay, and there's no question of wanting to hide it - conceal it at all."

The PM committed that Government will publicize those costs...