7 News Belize

PM Boasts About Economy
posted (October 29, 2018)
Turning back now to today's press conference, the Prime Minister opened up with a 35 minute update - which was like a mini- state of the nation address. He boasted about the relatively strong economic growth for the first half of this year - which has shown 3.4% GDP growth, the strongest since 2015.

He says tourism is the driver:...

Rt. Hon. Dean Barrow, Prime Minister
"Of course, the biggest driver of this dramatically improved economic performance and trajectory, is tourism. Overnight arrivals this year have been up every single month over the corresponding month for 2017. And by end December the year on year increase will be just shy of 11%. This continues the record setting phenomenon of an unbroken 10 year stretch of year over year Belize tourism growth, with that growth being double digit for each of the last three years."

"Agriculture, our other economic mainstay, is more of a mixed bag. But banana is doing well and will do even better with port improvement for alongside berthing, and the rehabilitation and putting back into production of some of the old John Zabaneh farms."

"Citrus is still in recovery mode, but is on the cusp of receiving a huge new capital injection from an international direct foreign investment proposal."

"And sugar awaits the CARICOM decision to impose the CET on extra regional imports of refined white, making way for its substitution by the plantation white produced by Belize, Guyana, Jamaica and Barbados."

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