And for those businesses, especially merchants and importers who do manage to stay afloat in this tough time - where will they get the foreign exchange to purchase stock?
Belize's #1 foreign exchange earner, tourism has gone on an extended hiatus. So where's the hard currency going to come from.
The Prime Minister says this has to be dispensed on a priority basis:
Rt. Hon. Dean Barrow, Prime Minister
"The foreign exchange applications are going in the first instance to the commercial banks. They are working together with the central bank on a system of prioritization. We know for example we must pay for energy that comes from CFE. So BEL is a priority, we must pay for fuel and PUMA has to get the foreign exchange so that we can import fuel. So there is that kind of priority list that has been developed, but the importers are in fact somewhere on that list, not at the top and there is at this point in time enough foreign exchange for them to be able to get their fair share. The time may well come when we need to say to people we're going to cut back on none essential imports - on luxury items being imported, but we are not there yet. We are being careful, we are monitoring the situation closely, but we are not yet at a point where the central bank would have to intervene and start giving out foreign exchange from its own reserves. The amount of foreign exchange that the commercial banks have on hand is adequate for the time being."
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